Democrat Graham Platner entered the race in 2026 against Senator Susan Collins

More than a year before the voters appeared in the polls, the American senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, has a new challenger.

Early Tuesday morning, Graham Platner entered the race as a democrat. The combat veteran served in the American army and the marine body during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to his online biography, and is now an owner of Waukeag Neck Oyster Co.

His Facebook page of his campaign says he is a “friend of the Mainer Working, enemy of the oligarchy”. He already has more than a dozen town halls planned in the state of New England.

“(E) all I have gone, it seems that the fabric of what keeps us together is being torn apart by billionaires and corrupt politicians,” said Platner, 40, in a campaign launch video.

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Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, arrives to present the candidate of the first judge of the first circuit Joshua D. Dunlap during a confirmation hearing of the Judicial Committee of the Senate on Wednesday July 30, 2025. (Tom Williams / CQ-Roll Call, included via Getty Images)

“Take advantage of destroying our environment, leading our families in poverty and crushing the middle class,” he said.

Platner continued by saying that he supports universal health care, helping veterans and stopped funding for foreign wars. The video was produced by Morris Katz, one of the main advisers of the Democratic candidate for the mayor of New York, Zohran Mamdani, according to the New York Times.

“Being a donor Bernie Bro and Kamala Harris is a profile to call on a progressive Portland, and not the centrist and conservative voters in Rural Maine,” said Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine Republican Party, according to Times.

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Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, leaves the Senate floor after a night session at the US capitol on July 1, 2025 in Washington, DC (Andrew Harnik)

Platner, a new coming political, said politico That he also invoked Joe Cavello, a former senior assistant to senator John Fetterman, D-Penn., To help his campaign.

“To call me liberal, I think it’s quite fun. I mean, I am a competitive pistol shooter. This is what I do on the weekend,” he told the media. “I am an instructor of firearms. I spent several years, obviously, in service using firearms. I also grew up in Rural Maine, where firearms are part of our existence.”

Senator Susan Collins, R-Maine, meets the candidate of the United States Supreme Court and the judge of the Federal Court of Appeal Ketanji Brown Jackson in her office on March 8, 2022. (Jim Bourg)

The list of Democrats Challenger against Collins increases, and reports say that those who are already in office are trying to make Janet Mills exploits, the State Democratic Governor, 77, for the siege.

The Republicans currently control the majority of the Senate by a margin of 53-47. Democrats are expected to return four seats in the mid-term elections of 2026 to take the majority.

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A spokesperson for Collins told Fox News Digital that Platner was “only another progressive in the race”.