Janet Mills Is Targeting Graham Platner’s Reddit History, as Maine’s Senate Primary Heats Up

“The majority of voters don’t live on Twitter or digest every piece of news, and Platner hasn’t been the subject of a negative ad campaign,” a source close to the Mills campaign said.

Maine Janet Mills

Maine Gov. Janet Mills speaks to the press in Lewiston. Andree Kehn/AP

The fight between Gov. Janet Mills and Graham Platner in Maine’s high-stakes Democratic Senate primary is entering a new, more aggressive phase.

Mills’ campaign released a new ad Tuesday aimed squarely at Platner’s online history, referencing two disparaging remarks he made in 2013 about victims of rape. The 30-second spot features women voters in Maine reading about the remarks and reacting negatively, with one calling him a “bully” and another saying the comments were “disqualifying.”

The ad ends with an image of a shirtless Platner, a tattoo visible near his right shoulder that was revealed last year to be of a Nazi symbol. Platner, a newcomer to politics, said he was unaware of the tattoo’s meaning when he got it 20 years ago and has subsequently covered it up.