这位养蚝人兼退伍老兵预计将胜出，尚无民主党人撤回对其背书
2026-06-09T05:00:59-04:00 / 福克斯新闻
作者：保罗·斯坦豪泽、安德鲁·马克·米勒 福克斯新闻
2026年6月9日美国东部时间上午5:00发布
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6397901034112
【观看】：关键初选临近，缅因选民就普拉特纳引发争议的竞选表态：“他就是个耻辱”
距缅因州民主党参议院初选仅剩一天，选民告诉福克斯新闻，他们在格雷厄姆·普拉特纳的争议行为是否应取消其参选资格，或是被夸大其词这一问题上存在分歧。
新增功能：您现在可以收听福克斯新闻的文章了！
缅因州班戈——对格雷厄姆·普拉特纳来说，今天是审判日。这位身陷困境的民主党参议院候选人来自倾向左翼的缅因州，他的目标是推翻长期担任共和党议员的苏珊·柯林斯。这场关键竞选是少数几场将决定共和党是否能保住其微弱参议院多数席位的中期选举之一。
普拉特纳是一名养蚝人、军事战斗老兵，获得了佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯以及其他顶尖进步派领袖的支持。他正面临一系列争议事件，这可能让他原本预计会轻松赢得的民主党初选变得比最初预期的更具变数。
与此同时，就在总统唐纳德·特朗普在备受瞩目的共和党初选中的连胜被打破一周后，这位总统对其政党的巨大影响力将在南卡罗来纳州共和党州长提名对决中接受又一场关键考验。
这两场选票对决将占据头条，引发大量全国性报道，因为缅因州、南卡罗来纳州、内华达州和北达科他州将于周二举行初选。
普拉特纳对支持者喊话：“缅因州，你们会支持我的”
过去一个月来，普拉特纳一直在为自己辩护，争议事件不断升级。其中包括他在Reddit上发表的煽动性在线评论、其胸前一个酷似纳粹标志的纹身被广泛报道且后来被遮盖、近期有报道称他在已婚期间与多名女性交换露骨色情信息，以及上周前女友们指控他存在强奸幻想、酗酒和暴力行为的新指控。普拉特纳称这些最新的暴力指控不实。
这些负面新闻引发了华盛顿一些民主党人士质疑普拉特纳是否已是“受损商品”。这位候选人上周六感谢缅因州选民继续支持他。
“当我十年前在网上发表的伤人言论被公之于众时，正如我分享了自己经历创伤后应激障碍、在康复与问责中走过黑暗旅程并实现成长的经历，缅因州站在了我这边，”普拉特纳周五在缅因州唐伊斯特离家乡不远的一场集会上说道。
“如今，我的每一段过往和人生历程都被挖出来、拿来小题大做并被用作政治武器，你们依然支持我。当出于政治动机针对我的严重虚假指控出现时，缅因州，你们依然支持我。”
【观看】：缅因选民就普拉特纳争议事件发声
普拉特纳曾承认自己患有创伤后应激障碍（PTSD），他曾作为海军陆战队成员在伊拉克战争中服役三次，还作为陆军国民警卫队成员在阿富汗服役一次。去年秋天他宣布参选参议员后，其Reddit争议帖子登上头条，他随即为此道歉。
普拉特纳表示，他胸前的骷髅头和交叉骨纹身是2007年与驻扎在克罗地亚的海军陆战队战友喝酒时纹的。他补充说，去年得知该纹身酷似纳粹标志后，他用新图案遮盖了这个纹身。但一名前女友的新指控让人对普拉特纳知晓该纹身的时间线提出了质疑。
加州进步派领袖、众议员罗·卡纳周五与普拉特纳共同组织了这场集会。他在接受福克斯新闻数字频道采访时被问及，是否担心当前的指控以及未来可能出现的更多指控会毁掉普拉特纳的竞选，损害民主党夺回参议院多数席位的希望。
“我更担心的是明确表明我们反对厌女行为，那些关系是有毒且充满暴力的，对此没有任何借口，”卡纳说道。“我和格雷厄姆谈过，他说当时他正处于非常黑暗的时期，他作为步兵从两次伊拉克部署归来，目睹了暴力和死亡。但这不能成为借口。”
【观看】：缅因州初选进入最后几天，民主党参议员回避是否支持普拉特纳
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6397687673112
但卡纳指出，普拉特纳称“回到缅因州后他真正实现了成长，成为了一名养蚝人，找到了平静，并且为那段时期感到羞耻。在我看来，这表明他在承担责任并改善自己的生活，我们的国家需要这种改过自新。我同意他的许多经济政策观点，即我们应该对亿万富翁征税，关注工人阶级。”
普拉特纳原本几乎肯定会成为民主党提名候选人，此前两届州长珍妮特·米尔斯在春季早些时候退出了竞选。米尔斯曾得到参议院民主党领袖查克·舒默以及民主党建制派的支持，当时她在筹款和民调中大幅落后于普拉特纳。
他在周二的初选中面临两位胜算渺茫的对手，但米尔斯的名字仍留在选票上，她在最近的一次采访中提到了这一点。米尔斯政治圈子的一位消息人士上周向福克斯新闻证实，在普拉特纳陷入争议之际，州长接到了呼吁她重新参选的电话。但目前没有代表米尔斯开展积极竞选活动的迹象。
福克斯新闻记者在集会前采访的缅因州选民在两个问题上存在分歧：普拉特纳的争议是否会影响他们对这位候选人的看法，以及这些指控是否会削弱他击败柯林斯的能力。
柯林斯周五结束国会山忙碌的一周后返回缅因州，她在参议院连续投出第10000票，创下了一项里程碑。她在接受记者采访时被问及普拉特纳面临的最新指控。
“最新报道中的指控令人不安，”柯林斯回应道。“我认为格雷厄姆·普拉特纳有很多问题需要回答。”
决定参议院多数席位的十大竞选
普拉特纳正面临共和党团体的大量政治攻击。一个与柯林斯结盟的超级政治行动委员会一直在抨击普拉特纳，投放广告曝光他的多重争议。
全国共和党参议员委员会（NRSC）指责普拉特纳是个“骗子”。
“他宣扬自己在缅因州长大，过着简朴而体面的生活。真相呢？格雷厄姆·普拉特纳是个精英主义者，他的父母送他去康涅狄格州的寄宿学校，还给他买了房子，”全国共和党参议员委员会写道。
共和党全国委员会（RNC）也将矛头对准了普拉特纳。
“格雷厄姆·普拉特纳称其暴力且不稳定的过往被‘政治武器化’。普拉特纳曾说过，他会通过强奸某人来彰显自己的支配力，‘强奸关乎权力’，”共和党全国委员会研究团队在X平台上写道，并附上了针对这位候选人的最新指控。
尽管面临这些指控和共和党人的攻击，尚未有支持普拉特纳的民主党政客撤回背书。
“我们需要团结起来，认识到目标是击败苏珊·柯林斯。从舒默到桑德斯，所有人都围绕这一目标团结一致，”卡纳告诉福克斯新闻数字频道。
普拉特纳吸引了大量民众，并筹集了可观的竞选资金，民主党将缅因州视为他们夺回参议院多数席位的关键机会。
但击败柯林斯并非易事，这位温和派议员正寻求连任第六个六年任期，且历来投票反对唐纳德·特朗普总统的议程。六年前，民调显示这位参议员即将败选，但柯林斯出乎所有人意料，以9个百分点的优势击败当时的民主党州众议院议长萨拉·吉迪恩成功连任。
2026年民主进程：关注福克斯新闻选举中心获取最新动态
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6394781602112
缅因州州长一职竞争激烈，多名民主党人角逐提名，以接替任期届满的米尔斯。共和党方面，前联邦调查员鲍比·查尔斯领先其他八位候选人，其中包括已故总统乔治·H·W·布什的侄子乔纳森·布什。
同样受到关注的还有该州第二国会选区的民主党初选，以接替温和派民主党众议员贾里德·戈尔登。戈尔去年宣布将不再寻求连任，原因是政治极化。
共和党人旨在保住其在众议院微弱的多数席位，他们将这个特朗普在2016年、2020年和2024年总统选举中获胜的以农村为主的选区视为绝佳的夺票机会。前两届州长保罗·勒佩奇在共和党初选中无对手。
在南卡罗来纳州，特朗普的背书成为焦点。
一周半前，特朗普在副州长帕梅拉·埃维特寻求接替任期届满的特朗普盟友、州长亨利·麦克马斯特的关键时刻，为其提供了最后时刻的支持。
埃维特在共和党初选中面临多位强劲对手。他们是南卡罗来纳州 longtime 总检察长艾伦·威尔逊、全国知名众议员南希·梅斯、众议员拉尔夫·诺曼和亿万富翁商人罗姆·雷迪。
由于预计没有候选人能获得超过50%的选票以直接胜出，排名前两位的候选人将晋级6月23日的共和党 runoff。
过去一个月来，特朗普背书的强大影响力在共和党初选中显露无遗，他支持的候选人在印第安纳州、路易斯安那州、肯塔基州和德克萨斯州的对决中击败了他 targeted 的现任议员，引发了全国关注。
但他在同一天为爱荷华州共和党众议员兰迪·芬斯特拉以及埃维特背书，以接替即将退休的共和党州长金·雷诺兹，却未能帮助这位三届众议员获胜。芬斯特拉被商人、农场主、前政治策略师扎克·莱恩以微弱优势击败。莱恩得到了与特朗普政府卫生部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪领导的“让美国再次健康”运动相关政治团体以及由已故查理·柯克共同创立的强大保守组织“转折点美国”的支持。
在南卡罗来纳州共和党州长初选中，主要参选者长期以来一直在强调他们对特朗普及其议程的支持，以期获得他的背书。
特朗普在数月保持中立后，终于为埃维特背书，称赞她是“美国优先爱国者”和“赢家”。
特朗普支持埃维特后，梅斯表示，她去年推动司法部公布与定罪性犯罪者杰弗里·爱泼斯坦调查相关的文件，这一强烈呼声导致总统支持了她的对手。
“我知道，当我要求透明披露爱泼斯坦文件时，我加大了获得背书的难度，”这位议员写道。“我要求公开是因为你们理应得到真相——全部的真相，”梅斯在X平台的帖子中强调。
特朗普在背书埃维特的社交媒体帖子中还表示，他预计埃维特将选择州长的儿子小亨利·麦克马斯特作为其副州长竞选搭档。
总统的这一言论在南卡罗来纳州政治圈引发反弹，有人猜测，曾在特朗普第一任期内接替当时辞职担任美国驻联合国大使的妮基·黑利出任州长、已担任州长十年的麦克马斯特，正试图为儿子的政治生涯铺路。
但麦克马斯特否认存在任何交易或施压，埃维特也表示，初选结束前不会公布任何竞选搭档人选。
周五，小麦克马斯特宣布退出竞争，称被提及作为副州长候选人“令人无比谦逊”，但“现在显然不是合适的时机”。
点击此处下载福克斯新闻APP
共和党州长提名的获胜者将被视为11月南卡罗来纳州大选的明显热门人选。
民主党州长提名角逐中，州议员杰梅因·约翰逊、 trial attorney 威廉·马林斯·麦克劳德 Jr. 以及曾担任当时民主党州长理查德·赖利幕僚长的商人比利·韦伯森正在参选。
长期担任共和党参议员的林赛·格雷厄姆在共和党参议院初选中明显是热门人选，但面临南卡罗来纳州商人马克·林奇带来的比预期更严峻的挑战，这场竞选已演变为互相抹黑。
在内华达州，现任共和党州长乔·隆巴多预计将击败几位初选挑战者，寻求连任。民主党方面，内华达州总检察长亚伦·福特明显领先瓦肖县委员亚历克西斯·希尔。
在坚定的红色州北达科他州，该州单一国会选区的共和党众议院初选竞争激烈。
福克斯新闻数字频道的亚历克西斯·麦克亚当斯、萨利·珀森斯、杰西卡·松金和卢克·特雷维桑对本文亦有贡献。
保罗·斯坦豪泽是驻摇摆州新罕布什尔州的政治记者，他全程追踪全国竞选活动。
Maine Democrats decide fate of Senate candidate dogged by explosive allegations
The oyster farmer and combat veteran is expected to win despite no Democrats rescinding their endorsements
2026-06-09T05:00:59-04:00 / Fox News
By Paul Steinhauser, Andrew Mark Miller Fox News
Published June 9, 2026 5:00am EDT
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6397901034112
SEE IT: Maine voters sound off on Platner’s divisive campaign as crucial primary nears: ‘He’s a disgrace’
With Maine’s Democratic Senate primary one day away, voters tell Fox News they’re divided over whether Graham Platner’s controversies are disqualifying or overblown.
NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!
BANGOR, Maine — It’s judgment day for Graham Platner, the embattled Democratic Senate candidate in left-leaning Maine who is aiming to oust longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a crucial race that’s among a handful that will determine if the GOP holds its slim Senate majority in the midterm elections.
Platner, an oyster farmer and military combat veteran who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and other top progressive champions, is facing a slew of controversies, which could make his expected Democratic primary victory in Maine much more interesting than originally expected.
Meanwhile, one week after President Donald Trump’s endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president’s immense clout over his party is facing another key test in South Carolina’s GOP gubernatorial nomination faceoff.
Those two ballot box showdowns will take top billing and grab plenty of national headlines as Maine and South Carolina, along with Nevada and North Dakota, hold primary elections on Tuesday.
PLATNER TO SUPPORTERS: ‘MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK’
Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine.(Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)
Platner has been playing defense for the past month, amid mounting controversy. It includes inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married and new allegations last week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes. Platner has called the latest allegations of violence untrue.
The negative headlines have triggered some Democrats in the nation’s capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods. The candidate this past weekend thanked Maine voters for continuing to support him.
“When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public, as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth, Maine had my back,” Platner said at a rally Friday not far from his hometown in Down East, Maine.
“Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back. And when politically motivated, serious and false accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.”
SEE IT: MAINE VOTERS SOUND OFF ON PLATNER CONTROVERSIES
Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to supporters at a rally in Bar Harbor, Maine, on June 5, 2026.(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from his three tours of duty in the war in Iraq with the Marines and one tour with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after they made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.
And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He added that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol. But new allegations from an ex-girlfriend raise questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.
Rep. Ro Khanna, the progressive leader from California who organized Friday’s rally with Platner, was asked by Fox News Digital whether he’s concerned if the current allegations, and any potential future ones, could sink Platner’s campaign and hurt Democrats’ hopes of winning back the Senate.
“I’m more concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that,” Khanna said. “I talked to Graham, and he says he was at a very dark period, he had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantryman seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.”
SEE IT: DEM SENATORS DODGE ON BACKING PLATNER AS MAINE CANDIDATE’S SCANDAL CLOUDS FINAL DAYS BEFORE PRIMARY
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6397687673112
But Khanna noted that Platner said “he really grew as a person when he came back to Maine, and he was an oyster farmer, and he found peace, and he is ashamed of that period. To me, that suggests someone taking accountability and improving their lives, and we need that redemption in this country. And I agree with a lot of his economic policies, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class.”
Platner has been considered the all-but-certain Democratic nominee after two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who was backed by longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party establishment, dropped out of the race earlier this spring after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.
He’s facing two long-shot rivals for the nomination in Tuesday’s primary, but Mills’ name remains on the ballot, which she highlighted in a recent interview. A source in Mills’ wider political orbit confirmed to Fox News last week that the governor was receiving calls urging her to get back in the race amid Platner’s controversies. But there’s no active campaign effort on behalf of Mills.
Maine voters Fox News reporters spoke with ahead of the rally were divided on whether Platner’s controversies would impact their opinions of the candidate and whether the allegations would weaken his ability to defeat Collins.
Collins, returning to Maine on Friday after a busy week on Capitol Hill where she reached a milestone by casting her 10,000th consecutive vote in the Senate, was asked by reporters about the latest allegations facing Platner.
“The allegations in the latest story are troubling,” Collins responded. “And I believe that Graham Platner has a lot of questions to answer.”
THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY
Sen. Susan Collins of Maine stands for an interview with Fox News Digital in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 10, 2026.(Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Platner is facing plenty of incoming political fire from Republican groups. A super PAC aligned with Collins has been blasting Platner, running ads spotlighting his multiple controversies.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) charged that Platner is a “fraud.”
“He’s preaching about living a small but decent life growing up in Maine. The truth? Graham Platner is an elitist whose parents sent him to boarding school in Connecticut and bought him a house,” the NRSC wrote.
And the Republican National Committee (RNC) also targeted Platner.
“Graham Platner says his violent and erratic past is being “weaponized” against him. Platner said he would rape someone to show his dominance and “rape was about power,” the RNC research team wrote on X, pointing to the latest allegations against the candidate.
Despite the allegations and the incoming fire from the GOP, no Democratic politicians who have backed Platner have rescinded their endorsements.
“We need to unite and realize that the goal is defeating Susan Collins. And everyone from Schumer to Sanders is unified around that goal,” Khanna told Fox News Digital.
Platner has drawn large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest, and Democrats see Maine as a crucial pickup opportunity as they aim to win back the Senate majority.
But beating Collins, a moderate who is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate and has a history of voting against President Donald Trump’s agenda, won’t be easy. Six years ago, public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by topping then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.
DEMOCRACY ’26: STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE FOX NEWS ELECTION HUB
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6394781602112
There’s a crowded and competitive field of Democrats running for their party’s gubernatorial nomination in the race to succeed the term-limited Mills. On the Republican side, Bobby Charles — former federal investigator — leads eight other candidates, including Jonathan Bush, nephew of the late President George H.W. Bush.
Also in the spotlight, the Democratic primary in the state’s 2nd Congressional District, in the race to replace moderate Democratic Rep. Jared Golden, who announced last year that he would not seek re-election due to political polarization.
Republicans, who are aiming to hold their razor-thin majority in the House, view the mostly rural district which Trump carried in the 2016, 2020, and 2024 presidential elections, as a top pickup opportunity. Former two-term Republican Gov. Paul LePage is uncontested for the GOP nomination.
In South Carolina, Trump’s endorsement is in the spotlight.
The president, a week and a half ago, handed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette 11th-hour support as she seeks to succeed a top Trump ally, term-limited Republican Gov. Henry McMaster.
South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette announces her bid for the Republican nomination for governor at The Smokestack at Judson Mill in South Carolina on July 14, 2025.(Joshua Boucher/The State/Tribune News Service/Getty Images)
Evette is facing off in the GOP primary against a handful of top rivals. They are longtime South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, nationally known Rep. Nancy Mace, Rep. Ralph Norman and multimillionaire businessman Rom Reddy.
Since no candidate was expected to top 50% of the primary vote and land a majority, the top two finishers will advance to the June 23 Republican runoff.
The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past month, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.
But his last-minute endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa — which came on the same day he also backed Evette — in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to muscle the three-term congressman to victory.
Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.
In the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, the major contenders had long been highlighting their support for Trump and his agenda, in hopes of landing his support.
Trump, after staying neutral for months, endorsed Evette, praising her as an “America First Patriot” and a “WINNER” in his announcement.
After Trump backed Evette, Mace said that her very vocal push last year for the Justice Department to release the files related to its probe into convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contributed to the president’s backing of her rival.
Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina is running for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Henry McMaster.(Tracy Glantz/The State/Tribune News Service)
“I know I put the likelihood of an endorsement on the line when I demanded transparency on the Epstein files,” the lawmaker wrote. “I demanded it because you deserved the truth — ALL OF IT,” Mace emphasized in a post on X.
Trump, in a social media post endorsing Evette, also said he expected Evette to choose Henry McMaster Jr., the governor’s son, as her running mate for lieutenant governor.
The comment by the president led to blowback in South Carolina political circles and speculation that McMaster, who succeeded then-Gov. Nikki Haley when she stepped down to serve as U.N. ambassador during Trump’s first term and who is in his 10th year as governor, was trying to give his son a political boost.
But McMaster denied any deal or pressure, and Evette has said she wouldn’t name any running mate until after the primary is over.
And on Friday, the younger McMaster took his name out of contention, saying it was “incredibly humbling” to be mentioned as a possible lieutenant governor candidate, but that “now is simply not the right time.”
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
The winner of the Republican gubernatorial nomination will be considered the clear favorite in November’s general election in South Carolina.
State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, trial attorney and 2010 gubernatorial candidate William Mullins McLeod Jr., and businessman Billy Webster, who served as chief of staff to then-Democratic Gov. Richard Riley, are running for their party’s nomination.
Longtime Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham is the clear favorite in the Republican Senate primary, but is facing a tougher-than-expected challenge from South Carolina businessman Mark Lynch in a race that has devolved into mudslinging.
In Nevada, incumbent Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo is expected to fend off a handful of primary challengers as he seeks re-election. On the Democratic side, Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford is the clear favorite over Washoe County Commissioner Alexis Hill.
And in solidly red North Dakota, there is a competitive GOP house primary for the state’s at-large district.
Fox News Digital’s Alexis McAdams, Sally Persons, Jessica Sonkin and Luke Trevisan contributed to this report.
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter based in the swing state of New Hampshire. He covers the campaign trail from coast to coast.