Maine
Graham Platner Should Run for Maine State Legislature
On October 15, Graham Platner, the 41-year-old military veteran and rural Maine oyster farmer running for U.S. Senate, told The Bulwark that “I don’t have that many” skeletons in his closest. Asked about the fact he is “just not as tested” as the newest entrant to the race, the 77-year-old incumbent Governor Janet Mills, Platner replied, “We’ve been sending up well-tested people for decades, and the country is in worse straits than it’s ever been.”
On October 16, questionable social media posts by Platner began to make their way into the media, in which he victim-blamed rape survivors, asked “why don’t black people tip?”, suggested support for political violence, and dubbed himself a “communist” and a “vegetable growing, psychedelics taking socialist.” In a thread titled, “white people aren’t as racist or stupid as Trump thinks,” Platner responded, “Living in white rural America, I’m afraid to tell you they actually are.” One of Platner’s top campaign aides resigned in response. The candidate has since been on an apology tour, characterizing the comments as byproducts of a rough transition into civilian life after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, and not reflective of who he is today.
When Mills entered the race to be the nominee against the Democratic Party’s white whale—five-term incumbent Senator Susan Collins—concerns about Mills’s age immediately surfaced, although Collins herself will turn 73 later this year. Some Democrats expressed frustration with yet another septuagenarian running for high office—after the calamitous, truncated Joe Biden re-election effort and the painful end of Senator Dianne Feinstein’s career.
Furthermore, Platner had been in the race for two months, earning favorable attention and endorsements from Senator Bernie Sanders as well as big unions thanks to his gruff, blunt charisma, military service, and blue-collar work as an oysterman, and left-leaning politics. Shouldn’t the aging Mills let a fresh face take the spotlight?
The downside of that logic is now plain. A handful of social media rantings is not “that many” skeletons, but they are enough to rattle Platner’s chances.
The former Marine still has defenders, not just regarding his own character, but regarding how we should view unvarnished social media posting in the modern age. Representative Ro Khanna, on X, accused the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee of leaking Platner’s social media history to the media, and declared, “I respect Platner’s journey & the man he is today. I reject the politics of personal destruction. I stand by my endorsement.” Ryan Grim of Drop Site News on X, in response to Platner’s disavowal video, argued more broadly, “If being angry as a young man disqualifies you from running for office later as a Democrat, Dems will have basically no men running.”
People of any gender can be and have been intemperate on social media, so I don’t think gender is relevant to whether Democrats should shun candidates with checkered social media histories. But there’s validity to the argument that in the social media era, it’s really easy to have bad moments online that don’t capture an individual’s full character. Besides, there are many people in elective office—including in the Oval Office—who have overcome, or even embraced, offensive posts. So, why assume that voters will find Platner’s past disqualifying?
However, the question runs both ways: Why assume Platner can convince voters his social media past is not indicative of flawed character? Platner isn’t as tested as Mills, not just as a candidate but as a public official.
To Platner’s credit, the resident of tiny Sullivan near Bar Harbor, chairs his town’s planning board and is harbormaster. (Maine has cool government positions!) But if Platner were a state legislator or statewide official, he could more easily tell Maine voters: You know me, you’ve worked with me, you’ve seen my record of accomplishments, and you know these old posts don’t reflect who I am today and how I would serve as your United States Senator.
Being in the statehouse doesn’t make one bulletproof of course. Collins survived her last campaign against Sara Gideon, who was Speaker of the Maine House, thanks to a negative ad campaign full of falsehoods. But without some sort of track record and a relationship with the Maine electorate, a candidate has little ability to defuse questions about character.
So instead of asking the entire state of Maine to roll the dice, Platner should consider competing for the District 12 seat in the Maine House of Representatives.
That seat is currently held by the Republicans’ House Minority Leader Billy Bob Faulkingham. Whatever is in Platner’s past can’t compare to Faulkingham’s past criminal convictions for assault and “throwing a bucket of excrement” at people. Presumably defeating a Republican incumbent in rural Maine would be a challenge for Platner, but if he truly has the charisma as a straight-talking Maine veteran and oyster farmer, then let’s see it work on the local level before presuming it’ll work statewide.
Maybe Platner isn’t a racist, misogynistic communist. But that’s not enough to conclude he is prepared to run a U.S. Senate campaign, much less be a United States Senator. Younger Democrats should be moving up the ranks. But going step-by-step still has its merits.
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This story will be updated.
The Maine Department of Transportation is moving to slash up to $400 million in projects from its agenda, a shocking and abrupt cutback that is rattling the state’s construction industry at the start of building season.
Roughly $50 million across six pavement projects have already been delayed, according to a memo exclusively obtained by the Bangor Daily News. The agency plans to cut or delay another $150 million in bridge, highway, intersection and multimodal projects later this month. A further $200 million or more in cuts are planned in the next three-year work plan.
Those figures were outlined by Transportation Commissioner Dale Doughty in the May 18 memo to Gov. Janet Mills that has since circulated widely in the transportation sector, which has been getting drip-by-drip details on the wide scope of the cuts over the past three weeks.
It comes at the beginning of the state’s relatively narrow construction season. Companies have hired workers and ordered materials for projects they expected to begin this summer. The severity of the transportation budget problems was not raised to lawmakers during the 2026 legislative session.
Kelly Flagg, executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Maine, called the shortfall “deeply troubling” in a statement.
“We stand ready to work with policymakers, stakeholders, and industry partners to identify both immediate and long-term solutions,” Flagg said. “Maine cannot afford to fall further behind.”
Insiders saw this first.
This story was broken in Maine Politics Insider, the BDN’s daily premium newsletter for the most ardent political news followers. If you are a new BDN subscriber, you can sign up here. Current subscribers can contact our customer service team to upgrade.
The cuts stem from a structural funding gap of at least $130 million in the state’s current work plan, according to Doughty’s memo. Losses are magnified because state money from the gas tax and other revenue sources is matched by federal funds. Lawmakers have long grappled with politically difficult long-term problems with the state’s transportation budget.
A Mills spokesperson said Wednesday morning that the administration was working on a response to questions from the BDN. The department says it needs roughly $240 million more in state capital funding annually to maintain the existing system, and that anything less than $200 million will erode it over time.
Doughty’s memo the only near-term solution is a series of bonds beginning as soon as possible. Lawmakers would have to return to Augusta to authorize that if one is going to appear on the November ballot.
The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Michael Capeci is the former chairman of the Bangor GOP.
Let’s be honest about Maine’s current state.
For many families, the cost of living has become unsustainable. Housing is out of reach for many young people. Energy bills keep rising. Many small businesses are struggling under taxes and regulations that make it harder to grow. Rural hospitals are under strain and despite years of increased state spending, the results are not showing up in people’s daily lives.
Concurrently, Maine continues to lose young workers to other states. That is not a statistic, it is a warning sign.
To me, the question in this Republican primary for governor is not about slogans. It is whether we continue with a political approach that has failed to reverse these trends, or whether we nominate someone with new ideas. I think that someone is Owen McCarthy.
Owen is not a political insider. He is an entrepreneur from Patten, a small town where opportunity is not assumed, it is built. He grew up in a working-class family, became the first in his family to graduate from college graduating from the University of Maine, and founded MedRhythms, a healthcare technology company focused on neurological treatment.
He didn’t just talk about opportunity. He built it. That distinction matters, because Maine’s problem is not a lack of debate it is a lack of results. We have seen the trajectory: higher costs, slower growth, and a steady outmigration of young workers. I believe Owen McCarthy represents a break from that pattern.
His Maine 2040 plan focuses on creating 50,000 new jobs in sectors where Maine has real advantages — maritime and defense, advanced forest products, and life sciences. These are export-driven industries tied directly to Maine’s workforce, geography, and institutions. What sets Owen apart is not only what he proposes, but how he approaches governing.
He prioritizes modernizing permitting so projects do not stall. He supports using technology to reduce costs and increase efficiency. He focuses on making it easier to build, hire, and expand in Maine.
That same practical mindset extends to healthcare. Expanding telehealth, strengthening EMS systems, improving provider flexibility, and shifting toward earlier intervention are not abstract reforms. They are system upgrades designed to improve access while controlling costs.
Maine voters consistently respond to competence. They reward candidates who understand problems and present plans to solve them. I believe they are tired of rhetoric that does not translate into results, and skeptical of politics that prioritizes messaging over execution.
Owen’s approach is grounded in solving the issues that shape daily life — affordability, healthcare access, job creation, and government efficiency. That is not just policy positioning. It is a governing model that speaks directly to voters.
Some will point to his lack of political experience. But I believe Maine’s core problems are not the result of insufficient political experience; they are the result of policies that have failed to deliver measurable improvement. Experience inside a broken system, by itself, is not a solution.
If Republicans want to win, this primary must be taken seriously. From my perspective, it is not about choosing a nominee for governor who can energize the base. It is about selecting someone who can compete in a broader electorate that is frustrated and looking for change.
That requires a candidate who can speak beyond the base, not by abandoning principles, but by demonstrating competence and a credible plan to address Maine’s challenges. I believe Owen McCarthy offers that combination. He represents a shift away from managed decline and toward economic execution.
This is not just another primary. It is a decision about whether Republicans position themselves to win Maine or whether they remain trapped in a cycle of repeating the same strategies and expecting different outcomes.
If Republicans want to compete for Maine’s future, they cannot afford to nominate a candidate who only motivates part of the electorate. They need someone who expands it.
I believe Owen McCarthy is that candidate.
And if the goal is to win Maine, then the choice should be unmistakable
The only notable change in the top-seven of the Varsity Maine baseball poll is that Gorham now has eight first-place votes, two more than last week. The order of the seven teams is identical. In fact, the only change in the top-seven over the past three polls is the swap at the top after Gorham’s win over South Portland on May 19.
Furthermore, Gorham, South Portland, Oxford Hills, Cheverus, Bangor, Mt. Ararat and Fryeburg have been ranked in the top seven for four straight weeks, and six of those squads have been among the top seven in every poll this spring.
Meanwhile, Scarborough is ranked for the first time since May 5, and Ellsworth and Thornton swapped spots.
The Varsity Maine baseball poll is based on games played before June 2, 2026. The top 10 teams are voted on by the Varsity Maine staff, with first-place votes in parentheses, followed by total points.
1. Gorham (8) 89
2. South Portland 79
3. Oxford Hills (1) 75
4. Cheverus 55
5. Bangor 42
6. Mt. Ararat 41
7. Fryeburg Academy 30
8. Ellsworth 27
9. Thornton Academy 25
10. Scarborough 12
Also receiving votes: Washington Academy 8, Monmouth Academy 4, Cony 4, Leavitt 2, Falmouth 2.
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