Maine’s Graham Blattner believes voters will ignore his past to support a new kind of candidate

ELLSWORTH, Maine (AP) — In another world, the revelations of problematic social media posts, a tattoo that closely resembles a Nazi symbol, and a sudden change in campaign staff would have been enough to sink any political candidate.

But Graham Blattner, a Democrat looking to flip Maine’s U.S. Senate seat in a key 2026 contest, won’t stand aside.

Plattner, an oyster farmer and war veteran, has been candid about mistakes he says he’s made in the past and his struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder. He believes voters want to see new Democratic faces who will fight for them, and he is betting that the old rules of politics — with highly vetted candidates and an emphasis on convenience — no longer apply.

There is reason to believe he may be right. Republican Donald Trump was elected president last year as a convicted felon. Last week, Virginia voters backed Jay Jones for attorney general even after text messages sent by the Democrat calling for violence against political rivals became public.

Blatner is convinced that his brand of raw populism and calls for economic equality are what’s needed to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a five-term Republican whose seat could be crucial to Democrats’ hopes of reclaiming the Senate in 2026. First, he’ll need to win the Democratic nomination — no easy task with Gov. Janet Mills also running.

“I’m not doing this because I want power, or I want influence, or I want money,” Blattner told The Associated Press in an interview. “I’m doing it because we need better policy, and I’m committed to this project.”

Roots in Maine, years abroad

Blattner, 41, grew up in Sullivan, a small town about 170 miles up the coast from Portland, the son of a lawyer father and a restaurant owner mother who divorced when he was a child.

His mother, Leslie Harlow, said in a speech on her son’s behalf: “We raised our children with strong values ​​and beliefs. I believe Graham still has those values ​​and beliefs.” “I know that Graham was always the child, the young man, the man who paved his own path.”

He attended Hotchkiss, an expensive prep school in Connecticut, and said he was quickly expelled from his freshman year after behavioral problems and difficulty adjusting.

Plattner eventually graduated from Bangor Catholic High School before joining the Army, where he served three tours in Iraq and another in Afghanistan.

Plattner says that when he returned, he struggled to reintegrate into civilian life, but stresses that his story of redemption was made possible by stability at home and a life of work. He and his wife, Amy, married last year and live in his hometown with their dogs. One, Zevon, is named after one of his inspirations, singer Warren Zevon.

Read more: Blattner, the Maine Senate candidate, says tattoos recognized as a Nazi symbol have been covered up

The house, not far from a boat landing near his oyster farm, is decorated with photos of him and Amy. The plaza contains oyster cages, boat engines and buoys spread across the lawn and a pile of oyster shells extending near shoulder level.

This is the life Plattner fought demons to live. But he’s willing to filibuster it if it means getting a Senate seat.

“I am here because I see a political system that is miserably failing my community, and it was my responsibility to do so,” Blattner said.

The past emerges on the campaign trail

When he returned home from duty, Blattner says he was disillusioned, suffering from PTSD, and overwhelmed by seeing his neighbors crushed by housing and health care costs.

He turned to the online forum Reddit, where he got into online fights and left a wide range of inflammatory comments. Plattner deleted it, but it has since resurfaced, showing his support for political violence, rejection of rape in the military, and criticism of police officers and rural America.

He has apologized for the comments he posted between 2013 and 2021, but says he is not ashamed of who he was at the time.

However, more old Reddit posts appeared after the first wave in October, some of which used derogatory terms for women and people with disabilities. The second wave of leaflets retained the rough style, but demonstrated strong opposition to racism, sexism, and what he saw as the rising tide of fascism.

In an online meeting in early November with supporters, he said: “If you believe in transformative politics, which I do, then you also have to believe in the ability of people to transform.”

There are also tattoos.

Nearly 20 years ago, while on leave, Blattner says he got drunk with some fellow Marines and got a skull and crossbones tattooed on his chest.

This image was later identified as Totenkopf, a symbol of Hitler’s paramilitary forces, or SS, which were responsible for the systematic killing of millions of Jews and others in Europe during World War II.

As he did with the Reddit posts, Blattner was candid about why and how he got the tattoo and didn’t hesitate to explain that he didn’t know the meaning of the image until someone in the campaign pointed it out.

Tough battle for nomination

Democrats are currently seeking to find a way to regain control of the US Senate next year. That means turning attention to Maine, home of New England’s only remaining Republican senator – Collins.

However, it remains unclear who will become the Democratic nominee to lead that fight in the state known as “Vacationland.”

Gov. Janet Mills — a 77-year-old longtime state politician — entered the race with a warm embrace from Washington, D.C., elite Democratic leaders and advocacy groups. Blattner confirms that he is the candidate who represents the new face of the Democratic Party.

A representative for Collins declined to comment on Blatner’s campaign. Mills “will be a relentless champion for the people of Maine in the U.S. Senate — which is why the people of Maine will send her there next year,” the Mills campaign said in a statement. Both Collins and Mills criticized Blattner’s past actions.

Democratic National Chairman Ken Martin recently told Fox News Sunday that it’s up to voters to decide “and then we’ll fight hard for whoever they send us.”

Plattner was a little-known political figure before this election, but his campaign has a professional character. It has also seen high turnover, with political director and former state Rep. Genevieve McDonald among those who have left. MacDonald cited the Reddit posts as his reason for leaving.

“I did not know these statements when I agreed to join the campaign, and they are not words or values ​​I would advocate for in a candidate for the U.S. Senate,” McDonald said in a letter she posted.

The campaign requires staffers to sign nondisclosure agreements, which Blattner has defended as a standard for high-stakes campaigns. However, the practice comes at a time when other staffers have left the campaign, including its treasurer and CFO. Separately, his campaign manager left just four days after accepting the position after learning that his wife was pregnant.

Blattner dismissed concerns about staff turnover as part of the campaign’s growing pains. Instead, he says his background, development and even mistakes are what voters are looking for.

“Here in Maine, people are angry,” he added. “They are frustrated. They feel disappointed. They see that the political apparatus does not serve their interests.”

Croci reported from Providence, Rhode Island.