Overview

• Sanders announced the endorsement on Saturday, framing it as a push to confront income and wealth inequality and to challenge the billionaire class.
• Platner is slated to appear at Sanders’ Labor Day rally in Portland, where the event was moved to a larger arena due to expected turnout and will feature former state senator Troy Jackson.
• A Marine and Army National Guard veteran and oyster farmer, Platner is presenting himself as a working-class outsider focused on economic populism.
• Platner’s campaign says it raised $1 million in nine days with an average contribution of $33, highlighting early small-donor momentum.
• Collins, the Senate Appropriations chair, has drawn recent protests and criticism over her votes and past confirmations, factors Democrats see shaping a top 2026 contest in Maine.