Elizabeth Warren urged Democrats to nominate Graham Platner for U.S. Senate on Friday night in Portland, Maine, telling a packed ballroom that the Iraq War veteran and oyster farmer was a “real fighter.” Warren, who endorsed Platner last month, appeared with him at a rally in Maine’s largest city as the race narrowed with less than two months to go before the Democratic primary.
More than 1,000 chairs were set out in a ballroom at the Holiday Inn in downtown Portland, and most appeared full as the event began. Warren told the crowd, “I can’t wait to wade into that fight alongside Graham Platner.”
The weight behind the endorsement was hard to miss. Platner, who was largely unknown a year ago, is now leading in recent public polls and has outpaced Janet Mills in fundraising, bringing in $4.6 million in the last quarter to Mills’ $2.6 million. The Democratic nominee will face Senator Susan Collins, a formidable foe in a state race that has long drawn national attention.
Warren never mentioned Mills during her roughly 20-minute speech, even though the two-term governor is widely seen as the establishment’s choice for the nomination. The ballroom was decorated with signs reading “Women for Graham” and “Grahamas for Platner,” a pointed sign of who was in the room and who was supposed to be persuaded. Older women have been the backbone of Mills’ support, making the visual split inside the ballroom especially sharp.
Platner has tried to build his campaign around a sharp critique of power. In an early interview, he said he understood the system was “rigged” when no bankers went to jail after the 2008 financial crisis, and Warren said after hearing that line, “that’s my kind of man.” That message helped give the campaign a punch that has carried it from obscurity to the front of the field, even as Platner has faced scrutiny over past social media comments and revelations that he had a Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest as a young infantryman.
For Warren, the endorsement now looks less like a gesture than a bet. She is not just backing the candidate who surged first; she is trying to make clear that, in a primary still more than six weeks away, the fight she wants is the one Platner is offering. The question now is whether the party’s voters will follow the crowd in Portland or the governor the establishment chose.
