Democrats from across Maine converged on Portland this weekend, seeking to rally their base ahead of pivotal elections that could decide which party controls not only the State House but also Congress.
The five Democratic candidates for governor laid out their arguments for securing the party’s nomination, as did the four Democrats hoping to run for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District and the two remaining candidates in the U.S. Senate race.
The Democratic state convention came just days after a major shakeup in the primary race to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins this fall. Addressing a fired-up crowd Saturday night, Graham Platner thanked Gov. Janet Mills — his chief rival in the primary until Thursday — for her decadeslong career in public service.
But Platner also accused the “powers that be” of doing everything they could to stop his campaign — a clear reference to national Democratic leaders and their allies who were backing Mills. The Hancock County oysterman and Marine Corps veteran also didn’t hold back from the other populist, anti-establishment messages that have drawn huge crowds to his events since August.
“We are taking back what is ours,” Platner said. “We are taking back a party that too often has left too many behind, that too often has answered to the very same corporations and billionaires as Republicans. We are taking back our democracy from the oligarchs.”
Platner has addressed tens of thousands of people at more than 60 town hall events across the state since the political newcomer launched his insurgent Senate campaign. The crowd on Saturday night numbered in the hundreds — much smaller than the 1,000-plus Democratic delegates who had attended the two full days of convention programming before candidates for Congress and governor were given the chance to address the gathering after a two-hour break.
But this was Platner’s first major address to a statewide audience of Democratic party faithful. And Platner hit many of his common themes as he railed against a political system that he says is rigged for the wealthy and accused Collins of enabling President Donald Trump.
“Selling out the same working-class voters who have delivered mandate for change after mandate for change is not forgivable,” Platner said. “A performative politics that enables the destruction of our way of life is disqualifying as a United States senator.”
Platner still faces a primary challenge from David Costello, a Democrat from Brunswick who ran against independent Sen. Angus King two years ago.
Platner has been leading in the polls for months and outperformed Mills considerably in fundraising as well. But the national Republican party and their deep-pocketed allies have already committed tens of millions of dollars to defending Collins, who is the only Republican up for reelection this year in a state that Trump lost in 2024. Both parties regard Maine as a must-win in the battle for control of the Senate which, by extension, will dictate the success of the second-half of Trump’s second term.
Just before Platner took the stage, Costello made his pitch to the respectful crowd of Democratic loyalists. A Maine native, Costello worked in Maine state government before holding senior positions for the mayor of Baltimore and the governor of Maryland. He also was a country program manager and regional team leader for the U.S. Agency for International Development, or U.S. AID, a foreign aid program that has largely been eliminated by Trump.
Costello said his “extensive government experience is broader, deeper and more hands-on than Sen. Susan Collins.” He pledged to work to address the housing crisis, climate change, economic insecurity and what he described as the “unceasing assault” on free speech, academic freedom and human rights under the Trump administration.
“The contrast between my experience and reform agenda, and Susan Collins, couldn’t be starker,” Costello said.
Many attending the convention appeared to be coalescing behind Platner after Mills suspended her campaign.
Michele Carey, who resides in Temple near Mills’ home of Farmington in Franklin County, said she is grateful for what Mills has done as governor and attorney general. But she has supported Platner, in part, because she was disappointed with Mills’ longstanding opposition to sweeping tribal sovereignty measures for the Wabanaki Nations.
Carey also said it is time for the party to “wake up to what the people are really saying.”
“I think that Graham’s voice directly to the people has been loud and clear and that message is being really well-received,” Carey said. “I think people are ready to really embrace it. And I think that Gov. Mills stepping back has given us the opportunity to do just that.”
The audience also heard from the five candidates running for governor: Shenna Bellows, Troy Jackson, Angus King III, Hannah Pingree and Nirav Shah. Each was given roughly five minutes to address the crowd, as were the four candidates running for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District: Joe Baldacci, Matt Dunlap, Paige Loud and Jordan Wood.
U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree is unopposed in the Democratic primary as she seeks a 10th term representing Maine’s 1st Congressional District. Addressing the convention crowd twice on Saturday, Pingree accused Trump and Republicans in Congress of undermining democracy and harming lower- and middle-class Americans.
Pingree, who is the mother of gubernatorial candidate and former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree, also predicted that Maine would help the party retake control of Congress this November.
“We will win the two Democratic seats in Maine,” Pingree said. “One of them will be the people who follow me, and Graham Platner will win the Maine Senate seat.”
