Graham Platner, a 41-year-old Marine and Army veteran turned oyster farmer, won the Maine Democratic Senate primary Tuesday night, CBS News projected, capping a campaign battered by late sexual-misconduct allegations and lining up a November contest against five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

The outcome locks in one of the cycle's most consequential matchups. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, and Democrats need to flip four while defending several incumbents to retake the chamber. Maine, which backed Kamala Harris over Donald Trump in 2024, is the party's most plausible pickup, and Cook Political Report rates the race a toss-up.

A bruised nominee

Platner entered primary day weighed down by late reporting. The Wall Street Journal reported that his wife told his campaign he had sent sexually explicit text messages to other women shortly after the couple married in 2023. The New York Times reported allegations from a former girlfriend of physically abusive behavior, which Platner denied, suggesting the claims are politically motivated. Earlier controversies included old online posts endorsing political violence and dismissing military sexual assault, homophobic slurs, and a tattoo widely identified as a Nazi symbol that he has since covered. Platner attributed the posts to PTSD and depression after two combat deployments and said he was unaware of the tattoo's meaning.

In his acceptance speech in Blue Hill, the rural town where he was born, Platner leaned into a redemption frame. "I've made mistakes in my life — mistakes that I regret, that I live with and that I continue to learn from," he told supporters. "I'm still far from perfect, but every day, I wake up and I try to be a little bit better and a little bit kinder than I was the day before."

How he got here

Platner effectively cleared the field in April, when Gov. Janet Mills, 78, suspended her campaign citing fundraising difficulties. Mills had been recruited by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and carried the backing of national Democrats but never closed the gap. Her name remained on Tuesday's ballot; Platner led her roughly 72 percent to 20 percent with 42 percent of precincts reporting, according to Al Jazeera. Mills has not endorsed him.

Platner built his bid on cost of living, housing and healthcare, courting progressives with attacks on the "billionaire class." Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren endorsed him early. After the late allegations, Sanders told reporters voters should "worry about what's happening to the working families in this country." Rep. Ro Khanna, on CBS's "Face the Nation," called the conduct "misogynistic" and "wrong" before urging a focus on "redemption." Schumer, pressed on his backing, said, "we're going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate."

Collins and the map

Collins, 73, ran unopposed in the GOP primary and chairs Senate Appropriations. Her spokesperson, Shawn Roderick, said "while others talk about revolution and division, Susan Collins is delivering for Maine communities by funding rural hospitals, supporting our shipbuilders and fishermen, improving infrastructure, expanding broadband, and strengthening public safety." Platner, addressing Collins in his speech, said: "You and your friends profited, and my friends died."

Elsewhere Tuesday, South Carolina's Republican gubernatorial primary headed to a June 23 runoff between Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, at 28.9 percent, and Attorney General Alan Wilson at 26.2 percent. Rep. Nancy Mace, who had broken with Trump over Epstein files, failed to advance. In Nevada, Trump-backed Marty O'Donnell took the GOP primary in the 3rd Congressional District with 42.4 percent, setting up a battleground against Democrat Susie Lee.

Counterpoint

Collins's campaign had not publicly responded to Platner's projected win beyond Roderick's statement by press time, and right-of-center reporting on the matchup was not represented in the wires reaching The Journal on Tuesday night. Whether national Republicans will press Platner's record as a general-election liability remains unanswered in the available reporting.

Kicker

Platner's former political director, Genevieve McDonald, wrote an eve-of-primary op-ed urging Maine Democrats to reject him and suggesting he withdraw to let the party pick another nominee. Under state law, a nominee can be replaced if they withdraw before 5 p.m. on the second Monday in July. Platner gave no indication Tuesday he intends to step aside.