BLUE HILL, Maine — Democrats are projecting public confidence about the Maine Senate race in the wake of Graham Platner’s primary victory on Tuesday, insisting they can defeat incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in November.
Privately, however, many in the party are despondent about his chances, believing that his personal baggage has put a winnable race at risk and upended their path to securing a Senate majority next year. Some have written the contest off entirely, choosing to focus on other Senate races that are even more difficult for Democrats, like Iowa and Texas.
Everything, from deciding how to spend their money in the general election to how they navigate what members of their own party said about Platner during the primary, is now going to have an outsized role.