Maine Democrats want to hold onto Graham Platner’s progressive base — but they can’t agree on who is best positioned to carry the torch.
That indecision is creating a fractured field heading into an unpredictable late July nominating convention for one of the most important Senate races on the 2026 map. Now, various candidates are rushing to prove they are the most aligned with Platner’s policies, without tying themselves too closely to the disgraced oysterman.
Labor organizations and the national progressive organizing group Our Revolution are backing former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, who campaigned with Platner during the primary and got the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) for his unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign earlier this year. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), a former Platner surrogate, is also behind Jackson, as are dozens of current and former state lawmakers.
But some state legislators and local activists who had backed Platner are flocking to Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who similarly ran as a progressive in the gubernatorial primary. And former public health official Nirav Shah is touting more progressive policy positions than he did when he ran for governor in an attempt to break off some Platner supporters. Behind the scenes, he is also working to recruit former organizers from Platner’s campaign, according to two people familiar with the strategy and granted anonymity to discuss it.
The trio of former gubernatorial candidates are the leading figures in a crowded field aiming to win over a yet-to-be-selected group of 600 Democratic delegates. Part of that task is convincing Platner’s former supporters that they will carry on the progressive advocacy and fighting spirit that made his candidacy so popular — before he was forced to resign after POLITICO reported a woman said he had sexually assaulted her. Platner has denied the allegation.
Many of the candidates will make that pitch directly during a debate scheduled for Thursday night. And the stakes couldn’t be higher for national Democrats watching anxiously: Unseating Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) is an essential part of the party’s plan to take back control of the Senate this fall.
Platner convincingly won the Democratic Senate primary last month with nearly three quarters of the vote, and had a zealous base of support during the primary. But where his voters and core volunteers go next is unclear.
“People who were vocal supporters of Platner’s have moved to other candidates, and it doesn’t look to me like they moved in a block, that everyone agrees who’s the best next candidate from that movement,” said David Farmer, a Maine Democratic political strategist not involved with the Senate campaign. “And I think that in a truncated process like this, that’s to be expected.”
In just 11 days, Democrats will replace their nominee at a convention in Bangor. This weekend, they will select the delegates who will pick that candidate — a process playing out across all of the state’s 16 counties, with campaigns seeking to recruit and organize delegates who will vote in their favor.
Unions, who were a key Platner booster in his primary against Gov. Janet Mills, have largely gone to Jackson, a logger and longtime union member. The Maine AFL-CIO endorsed Jackson over the weekend, citing his support of workers’ issues in the Maine legislature, along with his track record of winning over rural and working-class voters.
Some of Platner’s biggest supporters in the state House are beginning to coalesce around Bellows, however. That includes state Rep. Valli Geiger, who had been floated by Platner as a potential replacement before she passed on a run. In a Facebook post, Geiger cited Bellows’ track record of standing up to President Donald Trump as secretary of state, along with the fact that she “did not declare as a candidate until after Graham Platner announced he was withdrawing from the race unlike the unseemly rush of so many ambitious men.”
Reached via text, Geiger declined to be interviewed about her support for Bellows.
State Rep. Gary Friedmann, who also previously endorsed Platner, said he is all-in for Bellows. While he agrees with Jackson’s stances and called his association with Sanders and Our Revolution “very compelling,” Friedmann hinted at something Democrats have voiced worry about behind the scenes: That Jackson struggles as a compelling public speaker.
“When it comes to standing up, if there’s a debate with Susan Collins, or the messaging that comes from both candidates, I think Shenna is extremely articulate and compelling,” Friedmann said.
He added: “I think that having a woman to voice that platform is gonna be very important.”
All of the candidates are still figuring out exactly how to capture Platner’s support without tying themselves too closely to him as an individual. A letter circulated by former Platner campaign volunteers that racked up hundreds of signatures as of Tuesday called for the candidate replacing him to adopt a string of progressive commitments on issues including health care, housing and ending “forever wars.” Both Jackson and Bellows signed onto the letter.
During a virtual rally hosted by Our Revolution on Monday, Jackson took time to “acknowledge what everyone on this call has been through” while asking Platner’s supporters to rally behind him, though he never mentioned the oysterman by name.
“I know that there’s real pain, anger, disappointment, and I’m not going to try and to minimize that,” Jackson said. “But look, this movement has always been bigger than one person. It’s about taking on a system rigged against working people.”
Joseph Geevarghese, who runs Our Revolution, called on the movement Platner emboldened to get involved in the delegate process outlined by the Maine Democratic Party.
“This is the perfect opportunity for us to show the establishment that we can organize and win within the system that they created, the Democratic Party process,” he said on the call.
A person close to Bellows, granted anonymity to discuss internal strategy, also acknowledged this dilemma for candidates, calling it “a really delicate dance to walk.”
“It’s not like she’s trying to be Graham Platner or be someone she’s not,” the person said. “She is able to be herself, and I think she, ideologically, is a great bridge for people who were very disheartened by what happened with Platner, but still extremely pissed off about Susan Collins and the Senate majority, and what’s happening in Washington, D.C.”
While Shah’s campaign is recruiting former Platner supporters behind the scenes, the former public health official is also making the pitch explicit in public comments.
“I want all former Platner supporters to know: you have a place in this campaign,” Shah wrote on social media shortly after he launched his candidacy last week.
Maine politics was rocked on Monday by ICE agents’ shooting of a 26-year-old man in Biddeford, with potential Senate candidates rallying around getting the federal agency out of Maine. For many Democrats, it was also a reminder of the importance of supporting the party’s eventual nominee, regardless of who it is.
Democratic State Rep. Morgan Rielly, a former supporter of Platner’s, said he told Jackson that he would support him in the primary. But more important, he said, was the goal of defeating Collins this fall.
“[The Democratic nominee] will have my full support and I will be working hard to get them elected,” Rielly said in a text message. “It’s absolutely crucial we are united and Senator Collins loses on election day.”
