Overview

• Sanders drew about 6,500 people to Portland’s Cross Insurance Arena, where he formally endorsed Platner and Jackson.
• Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer, is running as a Democrat to challenge five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
• Sanders framed the push as a fight against concentrated wealth and political influence he says reaches into both parties.
• Platner and Sanders backed universal health care, pledged to protect reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights, and criticized Israel’s war in Gaza.
• Both candidates face June primaries in crowded fields, while Republicans highlight Collins’s record on issues like Social Security and small businesses.