Janet Mills and Graham Platner battle for female voters in Maine's key Senate race

Key Points:

• Maine’s Democratic Senate primary between Gov. Janet Mills and oyster farmer Graham Platner is intensifying, with both campaigns aggressively targeting female voters, a key demographic expected to influence both the June primary and November general election against GOP Sen. Susan Collins.
• Mills’ campaign is attacking Platner over controversial 2013 online posts where he downplayed sexual assault, while Platner has apologized and attributed those comments to struggles with PTSD from his military service, emphasizing his current values and seeking to reassure voters.
• Platner’s campaign is heavily focusing digital ad spending on women, with 80% of Google ads targeting female voters, and he has hosted events with women supporters to counter Mills’ attacks, while Mills highlights concerns that Platner’s past remarks could alienate female voters in the general election.
• Recent polling shows Platner leading Mills by nearly 30 points among likely Democratic primary voters, including an 18-point lead among women, though he remains less well-known than Mills, and the impact of ongoing negative ads remains uncertain.
• The race is critical for Democrats aiming to flip the Senate, and both campaigns recognize that winning over women—especially older women who form a large share of primary voters—is essential to securing victory in Maine.