The Democratic establishment’s early bet on Janet Mills, as its best hope to pick up a coveted Senate seat in Maine, now looks like a clear miscalculation – one that has left the party boxed into a far riskier general election fight than it ever anticipated. By rallying behind the septuagenarian governor, and sidelining Graham Platner for months, party leaders helped create the very predicament they face.

Platner’s primary victory on Tuesday now means the closely-watched race will be a test of fortitude for Democrats in the long road to November. One where either outcome has wide-ranging implications for the party.

The turbulence starts with Democrats having to look past the 41-year-old’s myriad scandals: problematic online posts, a covered-up tattoo that looks like a Nazi symbol, sexting women outside his marriage, and allegations of violent behavior in past relationships that he has denied. The party apparatus, including several progressive lawmakers, will also have to square their endorsements of Platner at the same time as excoriating Republicans for overlooking Donald Trump’s own decades of indiscretions.

Looming over all of this is the expectation of more opposition research, which could test Maine voters’ resolve and undermine faith in Platner’s ability to actually beat Republican incumbent Susan Collins as she seeks a sixth-term in office.

But Platner’s rise didn’t happen in a vacuum. Plain-spoken and unvarnished, his brand of populism initially looked like the perfect salve for the perennial identity crisis Democrats have been wrestling with since 2024. Platner’s appeal only grew when Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and other top brass threw their weight behind Mills, leaving the political newcomer less vetted and tested than a typical party-backed candidate.

In many ways Platner is the perfect anti-establishment vessel for Democrats in a state where Trump lost the last three elections, and voters appear to be frustrated with Collins’ brand of moderation that still sees the senator back several of the president’s priorities. Platner has captivated crowds by skewering career politicians from both sides of the aisle – blasting their rote platitudes as self-serving and out-of-touch, while focusing on Mainers who can’t afford healthcare, gas, groceries and housing during Trump’s second stint in the White House.

“Susan Collins has never met a war she didn’t like,” the former marine said to applause during his victory speech this week in Blue Hill. “She’s been supporting endless wars since I was a teenager, and I know, I had to fight in two of them.”

After Mills suspended her campaign in April due to dwindling financial resources, the Democratic senatorial campaign committee (DSCC) moved to back Platner. After his victory on Tuesday, Schumer and DSCC chair Kirsten Gillibrand, reaffirmed their support for the nominee, but focused their statement less on Platner himself and more on the need to oust Collins as the best path to retaking the Senate.

While his momentum has laid bare the lackluster energy around the party’s initial choice, Platner’s mounting scandals also dominate any discussion around the Senate race. Whether he wins or loses, Democratic leadership will likely have to answer for its misjudged instincts in running Mills in the first place.

The road to November will undoubtedly be rancorous, as Republicans continue to cast Platner as little more than a liberal aberration. A conservative Pac supporting Collins’ re-election has released new ads branding the oysterman and combat veteran as “too risky for Maine”. Politico first reported on the spots, which include voters reading Platner’s resurfaced online comments, including those where he once minimized sexual assault.

Some local operatives also suspect that the almost 20% of votes Mills received in the primary won’t automatically migrate to Platner – noting the number of moderate Democratic women whose willingness to do whatever it takes to unseat Collins has waned in the cloud of controversy.

Candor, however, has become an important currency for Platner in explaining the growing list of revelations. By openly attributing them to undiagnosed PTSD, alcohol, and personal failings, he has reframed his behavior as authentic. For many, this redemption arc resonates, leading voters to support him because of his flaws, not in spite of them.

“If Democrats actually want to win again, if they want a country that delivers for working people, then they’ve got to elect candidates who are actually in touch with the real world,” said Corbin Trent, a former Bernie Sanders campaign aide and executive director of the progressive Super Pac, A Fight Worth Having. “If we keep demanding total perfection in our candidates with squeaky clean histories, we’ll continue electing the same out-of-touch corporate sellouts who’ve never actually experienced what it’s like to struggle in real world America.”

But Platner’s town hall enthusiasts are only part of the equation. Maine’s idiosyncratic unaffiliated voters – who comprise almost a third of the state’s electorate – present a steeper challenge. They might skip the lawn signs and hold their noses to vote for Collins, valuing her Senate seniority and the federal funding she secures as appropriations chair over a risky unknown.