Leading in Primary by 38 Points, Platner Takes Aim at Collins' Wall Street Cash and Iran War Support

As Maine's US Senate primary draws near, Democratic Gov. Janet Mills has gone negative—focusing on online posts that her rival, political newcomer Graham Platner, wrote more than a decade ago.

But with poll after poll showing Platner beating the governor by double digits—and with the gap getting larger with each attack ad Mills releases—Platner this week turned his attention away from the primary race altogether, releasing an ad focusing on Republican Sen. Susan Collins, whom the Democrats are hoping to unseat next November.

In a one-minute ad released online Tuesday evening, Platner is seen in black and white at one of the many rallies he's held across Maine since launching his campaign last August, where he's spoken in support of Medicare for All, condemned President Donald Trump's mass deportation campaign and war in Iran, and spoken out against oligarchy.

Collins, Platner tells the audience in the ad, "is the epitome of the establishment politician who serves the donors and serves herself, who is cynical and duplicitous, who's willing to say one thing and do another."

"We had to shed her from our politics. Quite frankly, we have to shed all the people like her," Platner continues as a musician plays the labor movement anthem, "Which Side Are You On?"

While Platner addresses the crowd, text appears on screen:

"Collins raked in Wall Street cash before advancing Trump tax bill," it reads at one point, referring to the $2 million donation Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman gave to the senator's super political action committee (PAC) one day before she voted to advance President Donald Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which contained tax cuts for the rich as it slashed public programs like Medicaid and federal food assistance.

"Collins accepts thousands from insurers while health costs soar," the text continues, citing a Maine Beacon article about $120,000 in campaign donations from PACs associated with for-profit health insurance companies—"the same companies now raising premiums on Mainers by as much as 23% in 2026."

"Collins expresses support for Trump's war in Iran," the text reads at another point, regarding the senator's comment last month that Trump has "inherent abilities as commander-in-chief to react" to what he claimed was a threat posed by Iran when he began attacking the country along with Israel.

A poll released by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research last week showed nearly 6-in-10 Americans say the war has gone too far. Fifty-six percent of respondents to a Data for Progress survey last month said the war would benefit Israel more than the US, and this week two polls found a majority of Jewish Americans oppose the war.

"We need to defeat Susan Collins. That work can’t wait until June," said Platner on Tuesday, referring to the June 9 primary. "So we plan to make clear to Mainers starting today: Susan Collins is not on our side."

The ad was released as the latest polling from Impact Research found 66% of likely Democratic primary voters backing Platner, with just 28% supporting the governor.

That poll bolsters other recent surveys that have found Platner with a commanding lead, including at least one other that was taken after Mills launched her first negative ad against her opponent. A second ad was released days later, focusing on the same subject matter: comments Platner made on Reddit in 2013 about sexual assault survivors, which the candidate has said don't represent his current views.

"Janet Mills going negative backfired," said Ryan Grim of Drop Site News, "which doesn’t bode well for Collins either."