Democratic Gov. Janet Mills was forced to abandon her U.S. Senate campaign on Thursday, unable to generate sufficient fundraising or enthusiasm to compete against Graham Platner, who has generated a lot of controversey over past remarks, including criticism of Democrat party leaders.
The announcement marked a stinging defeat for Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, who recruited Mills to lead the party's decades-long quest to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Past social media posts, which Platner has since deleted, have showed him endorsing political violence, dismissing rape in the military and criticizing police officers and rural America.
Platner on Friday insisted he would continue to speak out against his party's leadership, including Schumer, although he acknowledged that the two spoke privately the night before.
“Rank-and-file Democrats don’t want the Democratic Party as we know it,” said Ezra Levin, co-founder of the Democratic resistance group Indivisible. “Rank-and-file Democrats want fighters.”
Local Indivisible chapters, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who's an independent but caucuses with Democrats, and other leaders from the party's far-left wing had already lined up behind Platner.
Republicans, meanwhile, are giddy — and some moderate Democratic strategists are worried — that the anti-establishment shift may undermine the party’s effort to claw back control of Congress in November.
Maine is far from alone.
Prominent anti-establishment clashes are playing out in high-profile Senate races across Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa, along with House races in several states.
Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, continues to promote Platner and other critics of the Democratic Party's national leadership. The Vermont senator will campaign this weekend in Detroit with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed who claims Israel is just as evil as the Hamas terrorist group and believes Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is guilty of war crimes.
