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A group aligned with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has launched a website compiling the “red flags” raised by her Democratic opponent, Graham Platner.
On the site, Pine Tree Results, a fundraising committee, listed the various transgressions that have followed Graham Platner’s campaign as he looks to unseat Collins and flip a key Republican-held Senate seat.
“Over 20 years of a grown man revealing his true character with one red flag after another,” the website states. “He’s radical. Dangerous. Too extreme for Maine.”
Drawing from social media, Reddit and reporting, the website offers viewers a graveyard full of Platner’s most controversial moments and issues, hoping to keep them in public view as the campaign enters its final six months.
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In particular, it lists seven key “flags”: the way Platner has talked about rape victims, a Nazi tattoo Platner had removed, comments where he called police “bastards,” derogatory remarks about Maine residents, alleged sympathy for terrorists, comments about communism, and “bigoted” thoughts about minorities.
Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Pine Tree Results, founded in January of last year, according to FEC records, has amassed a mostly untapped $12.7 million war chest.
Despite the series of scandals highlighted by Pine Tree Results, Democrats are counting on Platner to carry the party banner in a state that they believe is ripe for a Senate win.
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He became the de facto party nominee earlier this year when former Maine governor Janet Mills, 78, announced she would suspend her campaign after it became clear Platner had more momentum.
Collins, a political moderate, has found success in the historically Democratic Pine Tree State as a Republican. She last won reelection in 2020 in a 51% to 42.4% victory over Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, a Maine state legislator.
Democrats are hoping Platner’s pitch as a political outsider will convince voters to ditch the five-term incumbent.
Platner has framed the PAC’s attacks as proof that his campaign has enough momentum to draw scrutiny.
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“A Republican super PAC called ‘Pine Tree Results,’ funded by twelve billionaires, just bought $2 million worth of attack ads against our campaign. It’s all out-of-state money. Not a single dollar coming from Maine,” Platner said in a post to Instagram last month.
If they clear their respective primary elections next month, Collins and Platner will face off in the state’s general elections on Nov. 3.
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