By Andy Sullivan and Richard Cowan
June 9 (Reuters) – Maine oyster farmer and Marine veteran Graham Platner was projected to win the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday under scrutiny over online posts, a Nazi-linked tattoo and allegations he sent explicit texts, in a race that could determine whether his party wins control of the chamber in November.
Platner, a newcomer to politics who has campaigned as a populist outsider, is expected to face incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins, 73, a moderate who has won comfortable re-election victories since 1996 despite the state trending Democratic. Questions about Platner’s past are likely to loom large in the general election.
Media projections had Platner easily securing the nomination with only 10% of the vote counted.
He faces allegations that he sent sexually explicit texts to multiple women last year, while former girlfriends told the New York Times he at times behaved in ways they described as unsettling.
Platner, 41, has apologized for the behavior and said he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression following combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he did not know the tattoo resembled a Nazi insignia and had it covered up last year.
The Maine Senate race is seen by analysts as one of the most competitive in the November midterm elections, when control of the Senate and the House of Representatives is at stake. Democrats need to pick up four seats from Republicans to win a majority in the 100-seat Senate.
DEMOCRATIC LEADERS STICK WITH PLATNER
While some Democrats have called the revelations about Platner’s past disturbing, progressive backers including Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont have stuck with him and no prominent figures in the party have called for him to drop out. Platner did not mention the matter — nor was he asked about it — at an hour-long town hall in Portland, Maine, on Sunday.
Platner’s background may not be disqualifying for Democratic primary voters, but it could prove more consequential in the matchup against Collins.
“She doesn’t always vote the way I like, but I call her the lesser of two evils. I hate to say it, but the other side is… there’s a lot of negative things coming out that I wouldn’t want in a dog catcher in my town,” Barbara Fenlason, 76, a piano teacher from Verona Island, Maine, told Reuters last week.
Democrats are not without options if further issues emerge. The party can replace Platner if he withdraws before July 13, according to state law. Platner’s top rival, Governor Janet Mills, suspended her campaign in April but said last week she remains on the ballot.
A winner had not yet been projected in the Maine Democratic primary race for a competitive House of Representatives seat that covers the state’s forested interior.
The winners of some of Tuesday’s contests might not be known for days, as the state uses a ranked-choice voting system that can take time to tabulate.
SOUTH CAROLINA, NEVADA CONTESTS AS WELL
Voters in Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina also cast ballots on Tuesday. In South Carolina, Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, who has been endorsed by fellow Republican President Donald Trump, was projected to secure a place in a runoff against Alan Wilson. U.S. Representative Nancy Mace, who has occasionally tangled with other members of her party, was eliminated.
In Nevada, video game composer Marty O’Donnell has won Trump’s endorsement and is seen as the leading candidate to win the Republican primary to take on incumbent Democratic Representative Susie Lee in a Republican-leaning Las Vegas district. Other Republican candidates include Jeff Gunter, a former ambassador to Iceland, and neurosurgeon Aury Nagy.
Lee also faces a primary challenger in cardiologist James Lally, who has criticized her support for Israel.
For takeaways on Tuesday’s primaries, read here.
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan and Richard Cowan; Additional reporting by Aleks Michalska; Editing by Michael Learmonth, Howard Goller and Ed Davies)
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