What to know about Maine’s tumultuous Senate primary race

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Days after posting multiple apology videos, showing off his chest to reveal a covered tattoo that was associated with a Nazi symbol and distancing himself from old online comments, Maine Democrat Graham Blatner says he is committed solely to his U.S. Senate campaign.

Blatner, an oyster farmer and first-time political candidate, is vying to flip the Senate seat held by Republican Susan Collins for nearly 30 years. But first he must emerge from a core field that includes Gov. Janet Mills.

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

Blatner, 41, made a stunning leap in the Senate race in August as a progressive candidate. But it wasn’t until Mills, 77, jumped into the race that media outlets began reporting his old Reddit posts, forcing him to issue a lengthy apology. He made a separate apology video when questions started swirling about his chest tattoo nearly 20 years ago.

He’s trying to craft a playbook similar to that of President Donald Trump, who found success amid revelations that might have ended campaigns just a decade ago.

Here’s what to know about the Senate primaries.

Old comments and tattoos haunt the new candidate

Blattner did not dispute that he wrote a wide range of Reddit comments between 2013 and 2021 that appeared to endorse political violence, reject rape in the military, use homophobic slurs, and criticize police officers and rural America.

He confirmed that the posts were made after leaving the army in 2012 when he “still had the crude sense of humour, dark sentiment and offensive language that was really characteristic of the infantry when I was in it”. He also said he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. He has credited returning to his hometown in Maine, going to therapy and spending more time in his community to help him develop and change his worldviews.

Then, the tattoo on Platner’s chest quickly became a new target of scrutiny. Critics have pointed out that the image resembles a specific symbol of Adolf Hitler’s paramilitary Schutzstaffel, or SS, which was responsible for the systematic killings of millions of Jews and others in Europe during World War II.

Blattner covered up his chest tattoo earlier this week with a new design, nearly 20 years after he got the tattoo with some fellow Marines in Croatia. He said no one mentioned the meanings of the tattoo until a few weeks ago.

Plattner spins to attack ‘the establishment’

Blattner has largely accused his opponents of being behind the leaks of his past comments online and raising questions about his tattoos. In an interview with The Associated Press, Blattner said he was warned not to enter the race. He said he has no plans to back down.

Later, at a town hall on Wednesday, Blattner told a large crowd that the foundation was “trying to ruin my life,” adding that it was “not trying to go out and talk about the issues” but rather “trying to find out if I said something stupid on the Internet 13 years ago.”

“The establishment is terrified, and I will say this — if they think this is going to scare me. If they think that ripping my life apart, trying to destroy it, is going to make me think I shouldn’t do this project, then they clearly haven’t spent a lot of time around Marines,” Blattner said to cheers.

Remainers are strong

Blatner’s supporters, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, D-Va., Martin Heinrich, D-Mich., Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and the United Auto Workers, continued to show their support.

“I’m not very impressed with a bunch of media outlets going around saying, ‘What do you think about the tattoo on Graham Blatner’s chest,'” Sanders told Axios in an interview explaining his endorsement.

Mills has remained mum about Blatner’s revelations. But another primary candidate, Jordan Wood, who was previously chief of staff to former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., said Platner should withdraw because “Democrats need to be able to condemn Trump’s actions with moral clarity” and that Blatner “is no longer able to.”

The election is heating up, and the primary months are just around the corner

Maine’s primary won’t be held until June 2026, so candidates have another seven months to make their case to voters.

Mark Brewer, chair of the political science department at the University of Maine, said the controversy over the tattoos and online posts could hurt Blatner’s campaign. Brouwer said Plattner has weathered the storm for now, but it remains to be seen whether he will be able to stay in racing long term.

“It would have been a lot better to be Graham Blattner three weeks ago than she is now,” Brewer said.