Graham Plattner’s departure throws a must-win race into chaos for the Democrats

But she worries voters will find it difficult to rally around any new candidate in three months’ time.

“My biggest concern is that we run someone over and he or she loses and then we spend a lot of time pointing the finger at whose fault it is,” she said.

In primary contests across the country this year, Democrats have routinely fielded outside congressional candidates with a clear vision of where the party stands and promises to fight for their beliefs in the face of Republican opposition.

Plattner was one of the earliest and most famous examples of this trend. With his beautiful voice, good looks, and working-class background, he is beloved both in Maine and nationally.

He presented himself as a candidate who could advocate for liberal policies — such as universal health care, wealth taxes and affordable housing — that would appeal to rural voters who had recently drifted away from Democrats.

A win in November would have given Democrats a chance to see blue-collar liberalism triumph in battleground states like Maine.

And this could be a compelling argument for nominating a left-wing presidential candidate in 2028.

Now, that opportunity may be gone.

That Plattner survived a series of scandals as long as he did. It underscores the danger of electing charismatic political neophytes who are not closely monitored before running for high office.

With Plattner’s exit, a group of more traditional candidates are expressing interest in running — including a few who ran unsuccessfully for governor and one of the state’s open House seats last month. They have recent campaign experience and some name recognition.

Former Maine Senate leader Troy Jackson campaigned side-by-side with Plattner in his bid for governor and came in third.

State epidemiologist Nirav Shah, who regularly rose to public prominence during the Covid outbreak, was a close second.

Maine Secretary of State Sheena Bellows is known for her lawsuit to block the Trump administration’s attempts to access voter information. In the year She was the party’s nominee in 2014 but was soundly beaten by Collins.

According to Melcher, many of Plattner’s fans are deeply hurt by the relationship. They did with their usual candidates. But he believes the high stakes in this race will ultimately support his replacement.

Many Maine Democrats supported Plattner with some reluctance because of his past scandals, he added, and this latest shift could be a blessing in disguise for the party.

“If they play their cards right I think they’ll be good and if they have some voters they’ll be better than they’ve been in the past,” he said.

However, the clock is running out, and Collins expects the fallout from whatever process Democrats ultimately pursue. For nearly 30 years, she has proved a formidable opponent for Democrats, even as she most recently defeated a better-funded opponent in 2020 to see her through to Election Day.

“It wasn’t going to be easy before, and now it’s hard,” said Melcher. “Beating Collins was always going to be tough.”