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US Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at a town hall at the Leavitt Theater on October 22, 2025 in Ogunquit, Maine.
"Every second we spend talking about a tattoo I got in the Marine Corps is a second we don't talk about Medicare for All," said Platner ahead of a town hall. "It's a second we don't talk about raising taxes on the wealthy."
As Politico and other news outlets reported over the past week on old posts written by progressive US Senate candidate Graham Platner and a tattoo he got while in the military, pollsters with the University of New Hampshire were speaking to Mainers about their views on the state's Democratic primary, in which Platner is now facing Gov. Janet Mills along with several other candidates.
Despite the media onslaught, UNH's Pine Tree State Poll revealed on Thursday that voters in Maine heavily favor Platner, who has spent the past two months since his campaign launch speaking to overflow crowds about his platform—one that is focused on making life more affordable for Maine families, shifting the Democratic Party away from corporate interests and toward the needs of working people, and ensuring corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share to provide for the needs of all Mainers.
The poll, taken between October 16-21, found Platner with 58% of the vote. Twenty-four percent of respondents said they support Mills, who announced her campaign on October 14 after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged her to run, while other candidates each had less than 2% of the vote.
Politico reported on Platner's old Reddit posts on October 16, generating national attention in the following days, and on Monday the oyster farmer and former Marine spoke on the popular podcast Pod Save America about his tattoo that was visible in a video—one that critics said resembled a Nazi symbol, but which, he noted, didn't prevent from from being approved to reenlist in the US military after he got it. Platner this week covered the tattoo and denounced Nazism.
"In other words, they were in the field as all the [opposition] hit," Democratic consultant Rebecca Katz said in response to the polling. "Mainers have Graham Platner's back because they know he has theirs."
Progressive observers said the polling showed that recent efforts to damage Platner's working class-focused campaign—which, one attendee at the candidate's town hall on Wednesday night noted, coincided with Mills' entrance into the race—have been no match for voters' palpable anger over a political system that has left millions struggling to afford healthcare, groceries, and other essentials while the wealthiest Americans are handed tax breaks.
The survey, said journalist David Sirota, provides "today's evidence that people are really pissed at the status quo, and also despise the national Democratic leadership and the media that so often run interference for them."
Ryan Grim of Drop Site News added that, judging from the temperature-check in Maine, the "Democratic Party leadership could not be more disconnected from the party base if they had lived on the moon the past decade."
Tommy Vietor of Pod Save America said that the poll served as a "good reminder that the DC pundit class has no fucking clue what actual Maine voters think or how they will vote."
The poll results were released the morning after Platner spoke to a crowd of about 600 people at a town hall in Ogunquit, Maine, following a video he posted on Instagram addressing the controversy surrounding his tattoo.
"This has come up because the establishment is trying to throw everything it can at me," said Platner, who also showed a new tattoo he got to cover up the old image. "It is terrified of what we are trying to build here. Every second we spend talking about a tattoo I got in the Marine Corps is a second we don't talk about Medicare for All. It's a second we don't talk about raising taxes on the wealthy. It's a second we’re not talking about the material struggles of Mainers as they try to scrape through a system that at its core is trying to rob them."
"And that's why tonight, I'm just going back right out on the road," he said. "Going around the state of Maine, making myself accessible to Mainers in their communities, so I can listen to them, I can hear about what it is they need to change in our political system, and that is what I'm going to continue dedicating my time to."
At the town hall in Ogunquit, Platner emphasized his political and personal evolution as he turned the attention back to his platform—one focused on passing a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling and ban "billionaires buying elections," rebuilding the US healthcare system by extending Medicare to all, breaking up corporate monopolies and ensuring corporations pay a fair tax rate, and defending the rights of immigrants and other marginalized groups.
"I'm not going to minimize what has come out," he said. "I used to hold different opinions... I also grew. I met new people. I learned of other people's experiences. I realized... that the more open I could be to listen to other people's stories, the more open I was willing to be—to extend compassion and empathy to others."
If they thought that any of this would stop us or deter us: they clearly don't understand our movement, and they don't understand Marines. pic.twitter.com/fXukXG2nVT
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) October 23, 2025
"The establishment is spooked," he reiterated. "And if they thought that this was going to scare me off, if they thought that ripping my life to pieces and trying to destroy it was going to make me think that I shouldn't undertake this project, they clearly have not spent a lot of time around Marines."
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As Politico and other news outlets reported over the past week on old posts written by progressive US Senate candidate Graham Platner and a tattoo he got while in the military, pollsters with the University of New Hampshire were speaking to Mainers about their views on the state's Democratic primary, in which Platner is now facing Gov. Janet Mills along with several other candidates.
Despite the media onslaught, UNH's Pine Tree State Poll revealed on Thursday that voters in Maine heavily favor Platner, who has spent the past two months since his campaign launch speaking to overflow crowds about his platform—one that is focused on making life more affordable for Maine families, shifting the Democratic Party away from corporate interests and toward the needs of working people, and ensuring corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share to provide for the needs of all Mainers.
The poll, taken between October 16-21, found Platner with 58% of the vote. Twenty-four percent of respondents said they support Mills, who announced her campaign on October 14 after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged her to run, while other candidates each had less than 2% of the vote.
Politico reported on Platner's old Reddit posts on October 16, generating national attention in the following days, and on Monday the oyster farmer and former Marine spoke on the popular podcast Pod Save America about his tattoo that was visible in a video—one that critics said resembled a Nazi symbol, but which, he noted, didn't prevent from from being approved to reenlist in the US military after he got it. Platner this week covered the tattoo and denounced Nazism.
"In other words, they were in the field as all the [opposition] hit," Democratic consultant Rebecca Katz said in response to the polling. "Mainers have Graham Platner's back because they know he has theirs."
Progressive observers said the polling showed that recent efforts to damage Platner's working class-focused campaign—which, one attendee at the candidate's town hall on Wednesday night noted, coincided with Mills' entrance into the race—have been no match for voters' palpable anger over a political system that has left millions struggling to afford healthcare, groceries, and other essentials while the wealthiest Americans are handed tax breaks.
The survey, said journalist David Sirota, provides "today's evidence that people are really pissed at the status quo, and also despise the national Democratic leadership and the media that so often run interference for them."
Ryan Grim of Drop Site News added that, judging from the temperature-check in Maine, the "Democratic Party leadership could not be more disconnected from the party base if they had lived on the moon the past decade."
Tommy Vietor of Pod Save America said that the poll served as a "good reminder that the DC pundit class has no fucking clue what actual Maine voters think or how they will vote."
The poll results were released the morning after Platner spoke to a crowd of about 600 people at a town hall in Ogunquit, Maine, following a video he posted on Instagram addressing the controversy surrounding his tattoo.
"This has come up because the establishment is trying to throw everything it can at me," said Platner, who also showed a new tattoo he got to cover up the old image. "It is terrified of what we are trying to build here. Every second we spend talking about a tattoo I got in the Marine Corps is a second we don't talk about Medicare for All. It's a second we don't talk about raising taxes on the wealthy. It's a second we’re not talking about the material struggles of Mainers as they try to scrape through a system that at its core is trying to rob them."
"And that's why tonight, I'm just going back right out on the road," he said. "Going around the state of Maine, making myself accessible to Mainers in their communities, so I can listen to them, I can hear about what it is they need to change in our political system, and that is what I'm going to continue dedicating my time to."
At the town hall in Ogunquit, Platner emphasized his political and personal evolution as he turned the attention back to his platform—one focused on passing a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling and ban "billionaires buying elections," rebuilding the US healthcare system by extending Medicare to all, breaking up corporate monopolies and ensuring corporations pay a fair tax rate, and defending the rights of immigrants and other marginalized groups.
"I'm not going to minimize what has come out," he said. "I used to hold different opinions... I also grew. I met new people. I learned of other people's experiences. I realized... that the more open I could be to listen to other people's stories, the more open I was willing to be—to extend compassion and empathy to others."
If they thought that any of this would stop us or deter us: they clearly don't understand our movement, and they don't understand Marines. pic.twitter.com/fXukXG2nVT
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) October 23, 2025
"The establishment is spooked," he reiterated. "And if they thought that this was going to scare me off, if they thought that ripping my life to pieces and trying to destroy it was going to make me think that I shouldn't undertake this project, they clearly have not spent a lot of time around Marines."
As Politico and other news outlets reported over the past week on old posts written by progressive US Senate candidate Graham Platner and a tattoo he got while in the military, pollsters with the University of New Hampshire were speaking to Mainers about their views on the state's Democratic primary, in which Platner is now facing Gov. Janet Mills along with several other candidates.
Despite the media onslaught, UNH's Pine Tree State Poll revealed on Thursday that voters in Maine heavily favor Platner, who has spent the past two months since his campaign launch speaking to overflow crowds about his platform—one that is focused on making life more affordable for Maine families, shifting the Democratic Party away from corporate interests and toward the needs of working people, and ensuring corporations and the wealthy pay their fair share to provide for the needs of all Mainers.
The poll, taken between October 16-21, found Platner with 58% of the vote. Twenty-four percent of respondents said they support Mills, who announced her campaign on October 14 after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) urged her to run, while other candidates each had less than 2% of the vote.
Politico reported on Platner's old Reddit posts on October 16, generating national attention in the following days, and on Monday the oyster farmer and former Marine spoke on the popular podcast Pod Save America about his tattoo that was visible in a video—one that critics said resembled a Nazi symbol, but which, he noted, didn't prevent from from being approved to reenlist in the US military after he got it. Platner this week covered the tattoo and denounced Nazism.
"In other words, they were in the field as all the [opposition] hit," Democratic consultant Rebecca Katz said in response to the polling. "Mainers have Graham Platner's back because they know he has theirs."
Progressive observers said the polling showed that recent efforts to damage Platner's working class-focused campaign—which, one attendee at the candidate's town hall on Wednesday night noted, coincided with Mills' entrance into the race—have been no match for voters' palpable anger over a political system that has left millions struggling to afford healthcare, groceries, and other essentials while the wealthiest Americans are handed tax breaks.
The survey, said journalist David Sirota, provides "today's evidence that people are really pissed at the status quo, and also despise the national Democratic leadership and the media that so often run interference for them."
Ryan Grim of Drop Site News added that, judging from the temperature-check in Maine, the "Democratic Party leadership could not be more disconnected from the party base if they had lived on the moon the past decade."
Tommy Vietor of Pod Save America said that the poll served as a "good reminder that the DC pundit class has no fucking clue what actual Maine voters think or how they will vote."
The poll results were released the morning after Platner spoke to a crowd of about 600 people at a town hall in Ogunquit, Maine, following a video he posted on Instagram addressing the controversy surrounding his tattoo.
"This has come up because the establishment is trying to throw everything it can at me," said Platner, who also showed a new tattoo he got to cover up the old image. "It is terrified of what we are trying to build here. Every second we spend talking about a tattoo I got in the Marine Corps is a second we don't talk about Medicare for All. It's a second we don't talk about raising taxes on the wealthy. It's a second we’re not talking about the material struggles of Mainers as they try to scrape through a system that at its core is trying to rob them."
"And that's why tonight, I'm just going back right out on the road," he said. "Going around the state of Maine, making myself accessible to Mainers in their communities, so I can listen to them, I can hear about what it is they need to change in our political system, and that is what I'm going to continue dedicating my time to."
At the town hall in Ogunquit, Platner emphasized his political and personal evolution as he turned the attention back to his platform—one focused on passing a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United ruling and ban "billionaires buying elections," rebuilding the US healthcare system by extending Medicare to all, breaking up corporate monopolies and ensuring corporations pay a fair tax rate, and defending the rights of immigrants and other marginalized groups.
"I'm not going to minimize what has come out," he said. "I used to hold different opinions... I also grew. I met new people. I learned of other people's experiences. I realized... that the more open I could be to listen to other people's stories, the more open I was willing to be—to extend compassion and empathy to others."
If they thought that any of this would stop us or deter us: they clearly don't understand our movement, and they don't understand Marines. pic.twitter.com/fXukXG2nVT
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) October 23, 2025
"The establishment is spooked," he reiterated. "And if they thought that this was going to scare me off, if they thought that ripping my life to pieces and trying to destroy it was going to make me think that I shouldn't undertake this project, they clearly have not spent a lot of time around Marines."
