Overview

• Platner, 40, a Marine and Army veteran and owner of Waukeag Neck Oyster Co., announced a campaign centered on universal health care, housing affordability, veterans' services and ending prolonged foreign wars.
• He enters a growing Democratic primary that already includes Jordan Wood and David Costello, as Gov. Janet Mills weighs a run and Rep. Jared Golden has declined to enter.
• National Democrats view Maine as a prime path to a Senate majority, with Republicans holding a 53–47 edge and Collins the only GOP senator up for reelection in a state Kamala Harris carried.
• Platner has attracted national campaign talent, hiring Fight Agency, tapping adviser Joe Calvello, and releasing a launch video produced by Morris Katz, and he has scheduled more than a dozen town halls across the state.
• He is pitching a working-class message that targets what he calls an 'oligarchy,' drawing GOP pushback from Maine Republicans and signaling independence by telling Politico he would not support Chuck Schumer as Democratic leader if the party retakes the chamber.