Graham Platner wins Maine Dem Senate primary; Mace out in South Carolina: June 9 primary results

Maine Democrat Senate nominee Graham Platner argued Wednesday that he has already been subjected to “an immense amount of bad faith reporting” as he turns toward a high-profile general election matchup with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

“I’ve already been the subject of an immense amount of bad faith reporting, frankly, an immense amount of lies,” Platner said during a virtual town hall.

The remarks come in response to a New York Times investigative piece which interviewed exes of Platner, many alleging sexual misconduct and abuse.

The Democrat predicted Republicans and outside groups would spend heavily against him in the months ahead.

“The Republicans are going to spend at least $50 million on this race,” Platner said. “They’re going to fill the airwaves with nonsense, with lies.”

Platner said the best response would be maintaining direct contact with voters rather than relying on traditional campaigning.

“The only way to fight through that … is by going out and being accessible to folks,” he said.

Maine Democrat Senate nominee Graham Platner used his first virtual town hall since securing the party’s nomination to cast himself as an outsider battling both the political establishment and incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

The self-described socialist, who cruised to victory in Tuesday’s Democrat primary, also sharpened his attacks on Collins and broadened his criticism to include an entire "system."

“We are up against a powerful system,” Platner said. “Corrupt politicians like Susan Collins, a flawed and at this point activist conservative judiciary with people like Brett Kavanaugh and Alito and Thomas, we are up against a health care system that does not want to provide health care.”

Platner also took aim at what he called a foreign policy establishment that profits from military intervention.

“We are up against a foreign policy apparatus that views militaristic adventurism as a foundation, continuing these forever wars that do absolutely nothing for the working people of this country,” he said. “All of that makes defense companies an immense amount of money, which is why we keep doing it.”

Without directly addressing the controversies that shadowed his primary campaign, Platner suggested that the current status quo is one of "corruption."

“They have told us for a very long time that we need a politics of compromise,” Platner said. “But what they really mean is a politics of corruption. They just want to keep the status quo going.”

“They have told us for a very long time that we need a politics of compromise,” Platner said. “But what they really mean is a politics of corruption. They just want to keep the status quo going.”

Republican California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton used his first Fox News interview after advancing from the primary to frame the November race as a referendum on “16 years of one-party rule” in California, repeatedly casting Democrat rival Javier Becerra as emblematic of state decline.

“It’s a very straightforward argument,” Hilton said on “The Story with Martha MacCallum.” “Do you want more of the same or do you want change?”

Hilton, the Trump-endorsed former Fox News host, officially advanced to the general election this week after California’s prolonged vote count wrapped, setting up a showdown with former Biden HHS Secretary Javier Becerra.

During the interview, Hilton slammed California’s election system as “insane,” criticized universal mail-in voting and ballot harvesting, and pushed a November ballot initiative requiring voter ID and proof of citizenship.

The GOP candidate argued California voters are frustrated by high taxes, housing costs, homelessness and crime.

Hilton also rolled out populist-style economic promises, including making the “first hundred grand tax free,” lowering gas prices to $3 per gallon and cutting electric bills in half through expanded domestic energy production.

“The government’s got too big, the regulations are too extreme, the taxes are too high,” Hilton said. “We need to cut your costs, help your business, fix our schools.”

Senate Republicans are warning that scandal-plagued oysterman Graham Platner could still defeat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, if the party fails to take the race seriously.

Republicans are defending several seats in expectedly close races, including Nebraska, Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas, while seeking to flip Georgia. Maine is different: Sen. Susan Collins' seat is the only Republican-held Senate seat in a state won by Kamala Harris in 2024, making it Democrats' most direct path to returning Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to the majority leader's office, Republicans said in a memo circulated Wednesday.

"It is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win," the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) memo obtained by Fox News — addressed to "Interested Parties" — read.

The NRSC agreed that Maine is the "linchpin" of the 35 seats up this year and that despite Platner’s Nazi tattoo, allegations of misogynist violence, arousal from biocide in port-a-johns, and his socialist policy platform, he remains a credible threat to the middle-of-the-road Collins.

"Senator Collins has won tough races before and can win this one, but only if we meet this moment with total urgency," the NRSC said.

"Because Democrats cannot win the majority without [Collins’ seat], they have fully rallied around Graham Platner, an extremely flawed, far-left candidate who secured the nomination last night. Platner has captured his party’s financial backing, outraising Senator Collins in every quarter since entering the race. We must match both the energy and the money to retain the seat," the memo said.

The NRSC said Democrats don’t view Platner’s race as being about the flawed candidate but rather about usurping power.

The committee said any one of Platner’s multiple scandals would have ended most campaigns, but Democrats remain united around him. The NRSC reported that after former girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield’s allegations against Platner broke, Platner raised $200,000 in one day in what the campaign said was its best haul of the cycle.

"The political fundamentals in Maine remain challenging, and it is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win," the NRSC said.

Collins is the last remaining federal Republican in New England and the only Republican in the Senate north or east of Pennsylvania.

The NRSC reported that Platner is beating Harris’ own margins by seven points while noting Collins has won tough races in the past, but this one is different.

This is an excerpt of an article by Fox News Digital's Charles Creitz and Alexis McAdams.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., celebrated his decisive South Carolina Republican primary victory by declaring the Palmetto State “Trump country” and blasting a faction of “anti-Trumpers” within the GOP.

“One thing was made crystal clear last night: South Carolina is Trump country, not Tucker Carlson country, Thomas Massie country, Marjorie Taylor Greene country, or Joe Kent country,” Graham said in a statement shared on X Wednesday.

“This loud but small group of isolationists, anti-Israel, and anti-Trumpers were soundly defeated by a candidate who embraced President Trump and his true MAGA agenda,” he added.

Graham secured nearly 57% of the vote Tuesday night, avoiding a runoff and defeating five challengers in the GOP Senate primary.

The longtime senator also credited President Donald Trump’s endorsement as “the gold standard in the Republican world” and thanked South Carolina Republican voters “for rejecting the garbage.”

The comments come after months of criticism from some MAGA-aligned conservatives over Graham’s hawkish foreign policy positions and support for U.S. backing of Israel and Ukraine amid ongoing conflicts.

RNC Chair Joe Gruters escalated Republican attacks against Maine Democrat Senate nominee Graham Platner on Wednesday, arguing Democrats are willing to “support anyone to gain power” as the party rallies behind the scandal-plagued candidate.

“Mainers have a choice in November, and they will choose @SenSusanCollins,” Gruters wrote in a post on X alongside a graphic contrasting longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins with what he described as “extreme, out-of-touch candidates like Graham Platner.”

The post comes one day after Platner won Maine’s Democrat Senate primary despite weeks of controversy surrounding allegations of misconduct, inflammatory online comments and a tattoo resembling a Nazi-linked symbol which he later covered.

Republicans have increasingly sought to nationalize the race, casting the Collins-Platner matchup as a referendum on the Democrat Party’s direction ahead of midterms.

BREWER, Maine – The morning after Democrat Graham Platner cruised to his party’s Senate nomination, the executive director of the blue-leaning state’s Republican Party charged that oysterman and military combat veteran who has been playing defense against mounting controversies is “an embarrassment for average working Mainers.”

With his Tuesday night victory, Platner, who is backed by progressive champions including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and who pushing a populist agenda, will now challenge longtime moderate Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in a race that’s among a handful which will determine if the GOP holds on to its slim Senate majority in this year’s midterm elections.

Ahead of the primary, Platner had been dealing with a slew of negative headlines and plenty of incoming fire from Republicans and even some Democrats over his multiple controversies.

But Platner has been playing defense the past month, amid multiple controversies.

They include inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married, and new allegations last week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes. Platner has called the latest allegations of violence untrue.

Maine GOP Executive Director Jason Savage, in a Fox News Digital interview on Wednesday, argued that “what we've gotten to know about Graham Platner so far is just an absolute disaster.”

“And let's talk about policy a little bit, and ask him, is there anything that Bernie Sanders supports that you don't?" Savage asked. "Where do you align with Bernie Sanders? Is it 100% Is it 95% And what's the difference there?

"Those are the things that we think Graham Platner has to do to make his case, and to try to get voters of Maine to trust him. he got Democrats to trust him in a primary by making a bunch of promises and kind of playing the victim when it's his bad behavior that is really what we need to get to the bottom of here.”

President Donald Trump went all-in with a firm rebuke of Democratic Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner as a "thug" and a "loser."

“I watch that thug that’s up in Maine," Trump said during an Oval Office signing Wednesday morning hours after Platner's primary victory. "He’s a thug. And they’re trying to make excuses for him. I mean, he’s worse than any human being that’s ever run for office, probably.”

Trump added he's "never seen anything like" Platner's political baggage amid allegations of infidelity, misconduct and questionable social media posts.

“He’s a thug, I know thugs; I had to deal with thugs," Trump continued. "I built a lot of buildings. I dealt with the toughest people on earth. I dealt with worse than thugs.

"This guy’s a thug. He’s a low-level thug.”

Trump added Platner's sketchy "rap sheet" makes him "a cheap, no-good person,” but "Dumocrat

“I watch these senators on the Democrats and, ‘Well, we don’t really know,’" Trump lamented. "You do know. He’s as bad — I’ve never seen a person like that run for office.

"He’s a bad guy, you know, just a bad guy.”

Trump claimed Republicans would never allow someone like Platner run for Senate in their party, but some in the Oval Office vowed to defeat him at the ballot box before Platner made it to Washington.

“Could you imagine? The Republicans had him? What if we had him?” Trump asked.

“If it meant losing the Senate, you would not let that happen. That’s just a terrible thing.”

Trump made one of his patented jokes, too.

"Guy’s a loser – other than that, he might be a very nice guy,” he said, before returned to the Platner topic later in the Oval Office news conference, calling Platner "a pig."

"He's just an outright pig," Trump said. "He's like a pig. I watched him, a couple of times. He's like a pig. That's what he reminds me of.

"You know, I come up with good names for people. I don't want to stick him with that one; although, I think pigs would be very upset about it."

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner should be considered a “misogynist Nazi,” according to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D.

Asked if Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, can defeat the Bernie Sanders-backed candidate in the midterm election, Thune told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" on Wednesday morning, “I do.”

“The Democrat Party is defending a misogynist Nazi as their candidate in the Maine Senate election,” Thune said. “It is pretty stunning really, if you think about it, to hear people get up there and defend this person’s actions.”

The race is very much about Platner and what his candidacy represents, according to Thune.

“Yes, it is about him, this election,” Thune said. “Because if he comes to the United States Senate, it’s going to be about the United States Senate and the future of this country.

“What the Democrats insist on doing is continue to nominate people who are so far left,” he added. “This party has moved so far left to where the American people are that it’s hard even to find a reasonable Democrat to deal with on any issue these days.

“In my view, at least, the Democrat Party, in many cases — you can take this one, you can take the one in Texas — these are far-left candidates, which is why Bernie Sanders is out there endorsing them,” Thune concluded. “There isn’t a moderate wing anymore in the Democrat Party.”

Republican leaders are sharpening their attacks on Graham Platner after his win in Maine, warning voters that the Democratic Senate nominee is too extreme for the state.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., chair of the National Senatorial Committee, wrote on X that Platner’s victory marks “the beginning of the end” for his campaign.

“He will be exposed, his agenda destroyed, and Mainers will reject him,” Scott wrote. “No amount of DC Democrat support or left-wing billionaire backing will save him.”

Scott added that “the choice in Maine is clear” and said Republicans will take nothing for granted in the race.

Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters also sounded the alarm, directing voters to a new Republican-backed website targeting Platner and pointing to his claim that allegations of misconduct should not be "concerning" to voters.

“Every single person in Maine should be concerned,” Gruters wrote on X. “Go to GrahamPlatner.org to see exactly who Platner is.”

Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., congratulated fellow Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., fending off a Republican primary challenge Tuesday night, praising the longtime Republican senator as an ally of President Donald Trump.

“Congratulations, Lindsey!" Scott, chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, wrote in a statement. "South Carolina knows that Lindsey Graham stands with Donald Trump by always putting our nation first. Onward to victory in November.”

Graham’s victory sets him up for the general election in November as Republicans look to defend the South Carolina Senate seat in an upper chamber than hangs on a slim 53-47 GOP majority.

Graham Platner’s campaign told Fox News Digital early Wednesday morning that the Maine Democratic Senate nominee did not have any events scheduled for the day.

But Platner’s campaign showed him out on a different kind of trail, a bike trail ride with kids, touting his campaign after Tuesday night’s victory.

“I am really excited to continue on this journey and this ride with rest of you all,” Platner said, peddling away in the campaign video posted to X.

Connecting with kids and the community is a way to defuse divisive politics, he said.

“It’s exactly the thing we need a lot more of in this country, which is people coming together and realizing that their neighbors are good people, and everybody really just wants to help each other out,” he continued. “It’s the message we need to take into our politics, which is why we won last night.”

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

The National Republican Congressional Committee praised Republican Cody Whipple after his primary win in Nevada’s 4th Congressional District, framing the race as a contrast between a new conservative candidate and Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev.

"Republican Cody Whipple represents the next generation of conservative leadership Nevada needs," NRCC spokesman Christian Martinez wrote in a statement.

"While radical Steven Horsford has spent years rubber-stamping the failed agenda that fueled inflation, weakened border security, and made life harder for working families, Cody Whipple will fight to lower costs, support law enforcement, strengthen Nevada's economy, and put Nevadans first."

Whipple, a desert rancher, won Tuesday’s GOP primary over a field that included attorney Ronda Kennedy and Anthony Snowden. He will now face Horsford, a veteran Democratic lawmaker and former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, in the November general election.

A new post-primary National Republican Senatorial Committee memo warns: “it is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win."

The memo tells Republicans not to underestimate Graham Platner, arguing that despite the controversies, he remains a credible threat to Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and could help Democrats flip the seat.

The memo calls Maine the “linchpin” in the Senate fight, with Democrats fully "consolidating" behind Platner despite controversies.

"The most important development of the last week is not another damaging story about Platner: It is the Democrat response to it; they are not abandoning him; they are propping him up," the memo warned.

"National Democrats, donors, operatives, and activists are building a permission structure for voters to support Platner anyway."

Republicans must treat the race as a top-tier battleground that required immediate urgency and resources to defend Collins, the memo added.

Collins can beat him, the memo urges, but says it will not be easy.

“Sen. Collins has won tough races before and can win this one, but only if we meet this moment with total urgency,” the memo concluded.

Fox News' Eric Mack contributed to this report.

A leading Republican super PAC is sharpening its attacks on Graham Platner after the Maine Democrat’s primary victory, calling him a “dangerous deviant” while warning that his campaign could threaten GOP control of the Senate.

“Democrats have spoken and the stakes for Mainers this fall could not be higher,” Senate Leadership Fund Executive Director Alex Latcham wrote in a statement Wednesday morning.

"While Sen. Susan Collins has demonstrated strong character, steady leadership, and unmatched effectiveness, Graham Platner is a dangerous deviant who cannot be trusted to represent the Pine Tree State.

"Graham Platner presents a serious threat to the Republican Senate majority, and Senate Leadership Fund is proud to stand with Sen. Collins to ensure she is re-elected this November.”