发布于2026年3月22日，美国东部时间上午7:00 | 作者：大卫·赖特
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缅因州州长珍妮特·米尔斯（左）和民主党参议院候选人格雷厄姆·普拉特纳（右）。
路透社/盖蒂图片社
“这太令人作呕了，”广告中一名女性说道。“这简直是不配担任公职，”另一名女性表示。
她们正在对格雷厄姆·普拉特纳的旧社交媒体帖子作出反应。普拉特纳是缅因州民主党参议院候选人，并得到了伯尼·桑德斯参议员和伊丽莎白·沃伦参议员的支持。这则广告来自他的竞争对手——缅因州州长珍妮特·米尔斯。
这些现已删除的帖子去年秋天浮出水面，此前美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的KFile栏目以及《华盛顿邮报》报道了普拉特纳多年前的网络评论。米尔斯的新广告中包含了普拉特纳2013年的评论，他在评论中淡化军队中的性侵事件，建议受害者避免在“与自己不自在的人”周围喝醉。
广告发布几小时后，普拉特纳接受了媒体采访，并与支持他竞选的女性一同露面。随后，他的竞选团队推出了自己的电视广告，直接回应米尔斯的攻击。
“如果我看到这些广告，我会有疑问，”普拉特纳出现在镜头前说道。“所以，缅因州的民众，我请求你们不要因为我14年前最糟糕的一天在网上说的最糟糕的话来评判我，而是看我现在是谁。”
米尔斯和她的盟友寄望于利用性别差异，在6月9日决定谁将对阵现任共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯的初选中缩小普拉特纳的巨大领先优势。她们押注于，普拉特纳因直言不讳的风格（这种风格让他获得了广泛关注，被认为能帮助民主党争取年轻男性选民）将在女性选民中适得其反。
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2026年3月20日，缅因州州长珍妮特·米尔斯在缅因州约克县社区学院的兽医技术课上进行访问。
肖恩·P·沙利文/今日美国网络/Imagn图片社
2020年——即最后一个有出口民调数据的年份——该州选民中女性占59%。新罕布什尔大学2月份的一项调查显示，普拉特纳在男女选民中都大幅领先，但其优势在男性选民中更为明显。
“直到几个月前的争议出现，我才真正开始质疑他，”来自缅因州斯卡伯勒的药物滥用治疗师艾玛·巴格比表示。“他关于女性被性侵时应该对自己负责的言论，那种措辞现在听起来很可怕。”
普拉特纳在接受美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）的马努·拉朱采访时表示：“我已经走遍了缅因州全州，几个月来一直允许人们直接向我询问这些问题。”
“我认为，对于这个州的很多人来说，这件事在我们已经讨论过数月之后又被翻出来——我只能说，我们在全州范围内收到的反馈是，人们觉得这一切都是他们最讨厌的政治。”普拉特纳说道。
“我没有任何纹身”
普拉特纳去年8月启动竞选活动时，民主党人对这位牡蛎养殖者和海军陆战队退伍军人充满热情。米尔斯10月加入竞选后不久，相关报道开始出现，引发了一系列争议。关于Reddit帖子的报道之后，又披露普拉特纳胸部有一个被广泛认为是纳粹符号的纹身，他随后将其遮盖。普拉特纳将自己的失误归咎于年轻无知。
“我这个人随着时间推移已经发生了转变和改变，我认为很多人都能感同身受，”他告诉美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）。
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格雷厄姆·普拉特纳在缅因州奥甘奎特的竞选市政厅会议上与听众打招呼。
布莱恩·斯奈德/路透社
桑德斯在普拉特纳去年8月启动竞选后不久就对其表示支持，将进步派、反建制的政治衣钵传给了他。最近几周，普拉特纳接连获得其他知名人士的支持，包括亚利桑那州参议员鲁本·加列戈、新墨西哥州参议员马丁·海因里希和马萨诸塞州参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦。
普拉特纳建立了筹款优势；根据年底的联邦选举委员会（FEC）报告，他在第四季度筹集了约460万美元，手头现金为370万美元，而米尔斯同期筹集了270万美元，手头现金为130万美元。
米尔斯是由参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默招募来参选的，作为一名更传统的候选人对抗柯林斯——柯林斯被广泛认为是最棘手的共和党现任议员之一，民主党人几乎肯定需要击败她才能在今年秋天重夺参议院控制权。但米尔斯也面临年龄问题。77岁的她如果当选，将成为历史上最年长的首次当选参议员，并承诺如果获胜将不寻求连任。
“选举可行性是这场竞选中的关键，”米尔斯本月告诉记者克里斯·西利扎。“因为如果我们想击败苏珊·柯林斯，我们必须推出一位能够获胜的候选人。过去我们推出过优秀的人来对抗她，但他们都未经考验。”
米尔斯还在社交媒体上开玩笑说：“顺便说一句，我没有任何纹身。”
普拉特纳支持者反击
普拉特纳的支持者希望民主党人支持一位他们认为能解决该党在农村选民、年轻男性和替代媒体方面困境的候选人——观察人士认为，这些问题导致了民主党在2024年的失利。
“他仍然能吸引600到700人参加集会，就像以前一样。在缅因州政治圈待了近25年，我在任何初选中都从未见过这种情况，”缅因州资深民主党竞选顾问托比·麦格拉思表示。“我认为格雷厄姆·普拉特纳在大选时可能有更大的优势，也可能有更大的劣势。而且，在州长和参议员竞选中，我们都处于边缘地带。”
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2023年7月，缅因州州长米尔斯签署一项扩大晚期堕胎获取途径的州法案。
罗伯特·F·布卡蒂/美联社/档案图片
劳工组织也在支持普拉特纳的竞选活动，他得到了包括美国汽车工人联合会、缅因州护士协会和国际专业与技术工程师联合会在内的多个工会的支持。
2月底，缅因州第二区国际电气工人兄弟会副主席迈克尔·莫纳汉致信民主党参议院竞选委员会，“表达我们对DSCC持续干预2026年缅因州民主党参议院初选的深切关切。”
“格雷厄姆·普拉特纳是这场竞选中唯一与工人阶级站在一起、尊重有组织劳工并赢得劳工信任的候选人。我们强烈敦促DSCC停止进一步干预这场初选，”莫纳汉写道，批评米尔斯在劳工问题上的记录。
支持普拉特纳的缅因州人民联盟（Maine People’s Alliance）是一个进步社区行动组织，该组织的梅根·史密斯表示：“我丝毫没有看到格雷厄姆的势头有任何放缓。”
“很多人一致认为，我们需要允许人们改变、成长并成为不同的人，”史密斯说。
她还警告全国民主党人不要试图影响选举结果。
“我认为缅因人不喜欢被外界指手画脚。我也认为，民主党在全国层面的支持率并不高，所以我不确定来自华盛顿的建制派民主党人说‘这是我们的候选人’会对哪一方有帮助，”史密斯说。
与此同时，巴格比仍在下定决心。
“我认为珍妮特·米尔斯感觉更安全，因为我们知道她的立场，知道她做过什么。而格雷厄姆·普拉特纳是个新人，现在所有这些问题都冒出来了，”她说。“所以，我认为这将取决于他接下来几个月的表态，到时候再做决定。”
Janet Mills targets Graham Platner’s online past in bid to sway women voters | CNN Politics
Published Mar 22, 2026, 7:00 AM ET | By David Wright
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Maine Gov. Janet Mills, left, and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, right.
Reuters/Getty Images
“It’s disgusting,” says one woman in the ad. “Disqualifying,” says another.
They’re shown reacting to old social media posts from Graham Platner, the Maine Democratic Senate candidate who’s been endorsed by Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, in a new ad from his rival, Maine Gov. Janet Mills.
The now-deleted posts surfaced last fall, after CNN’s KFile and then the Washington Post reported on online commentary from Platner stretching back years. Mills’ new ad features 2013 comments from Platner downplaying incidents of sexual assault in the military by suggesting victims avoid getting drunk “around people you aren’t comfortable with.”
Hours after the ad was released, Platner addressed the media and appeared with women who support his campaign. Then his campaign launched its own TV ad directly responding to Mills’ attack.
“If I saw these ads, I’d have questions,” Platner says, appearing on camera. “So, Maine, I’m asking you not to judge me for the worst thing I said on the internet on my worst day 14 years ago, but who I am today.”
Mills and her allies are counting on a gender gap to narrow Platner’s wide lead ahead of the June 9 primary to decide who will face incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. They are betting that the unfiltered style that has brought Platner widespread attention as someone who could help Democrats reach young men will backfire with women.
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Gov. Janet Mills visits a veterinary technology class at York County Community College in Wells, Maine, on Wednesday.
Shawn P. Sullivan/USA Today Network via Imagn Images
In 2020 — the last year with available exit poll data — the state’s electorate was 59% female. A February survey from the University of New Hampshire, which found Platner substantially ahead among voters of both genders, showed his lead is broader among men than women.
“I was really on board for him up until, you know, the controversy that happened a few months ago, is when I kind of started questioning,” said Emma Bagby, a substance abuse therapist from Scarborough, Maine. “Making the comments about women being sexually assaulted, and that they need to take responsibility for themselves in that aspect, you know, that kind of rhetoric, just is scary right now.”
Speaking to CNN’s Manu Raju, Platner said, “I’ve gone all over the state of Maine and allowed people to ask me about it all directly for months now.”
“I think, for a lot of folks in the state to see this get kind of dragged back up months and months after we’d already talked about it — I will just say the feedback we have received statewide is that people find all of this to be everything they hate about politics,” Platner said.
‘I don’t have any tattoos’
Platner’s campaign launch last August was greeted by a burst of Democratic enthusiasm about the oyster farmer and Marine veteran. Soon after Mills joined the race in October, reports began emerging that sparked a series of controversies. Stories about the Reddit posts were followed by the revelation that Platner had a tattoo on his chest of an image widely recognized as a Nazi symbol, which he has since had covered. Platner attributes his missteps to youthful ignorance.
“I as a person have transformed over time and changed, which actually I think a lot of folks can identify with,” he told CNN.
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Graham Platner greets audience members at a campaign town hall meeting in Ogunquit, Maine, in October.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
Sanders endorsed Platner last August, shortly after he launched his campaign, imparting his progressive, anti-establishment mantle. And in recent weeks Platner has rolled out a steady stream of other prominent endorsers, including Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Platner has established a fundraising lead; according to end-of-year FEC reports, he raised about $4.6 million in the fourth quarter and had amassed $3.7 million cash on hand, compared with Mills raising $2.7 million in the period and reporting $1.3 million in cash on hand.
Mills was recruited to run by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as a more conventional candidate against Collins, widely seen as one of the toughest Republican incumbents and someone Democrats almost certainly will need to defeat to retake Senate control this fall. But Mills also faces questions about her age. At 77, she would become the oldest first-term senator in history and promised not to seek a second term if she wins.
“Electability is the key in this race,” Mills told journalist Chris Cillizza this month. “Because if we want to unseat Susan Collins, we have to put up a candidate who can win and in the past, we put up good people to run against her, but they’ve all been untested.”
Mills has also joked on social media: “For what it’s worth, I don’t have any tattoos.”
Platner supporters push back
Platner’s supporters want Democrats to embrace a candidate who they think offers an answer to problems the party has faced with rural voters, young men and alternative media, which observers think contributed to their losses in 2024.
“He’s still attracting 600, 700 people like he was before, which, having been in Maine politics for nearly 25 years now, I have never seen that in any primary election,” said Toby McGrath, a veteran Maine Democratic campaign consultant. “I think Graham Platner has a lot more upside in the general election, potentially more downside. And I think that, you know, we’re in the margins when it’s the governor and the senator.”
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Gov. Mills signs into law a state bill expanding access to abortions later in pregnancy in July 2023.
Robert F. Bukaty/AP/FILE
Labor is also rallying to Platner’s campaign, which is backed by several labor unions including the United Auto Workers, the Maine State Nurses Association, and the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers.
In late February, Michael Monahan, vice president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers 2nd district – which covers Maine –– wrote a letter to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to “express our deep concern regarding the DSCC’s ongoing involvement in the 2026 Maine Democratic Senate Primary.”
“Graham Platner is the only candidate in this race who stands with working people, respects organized labor and has earned labor’s trust. We strongly urge the DSCC to refrain from intervening further in this primary,” Monahan wrote, criticizing Mills’ record on labor issues.
Megan Smith, with the Maine People’s Alliance, a progressive community action organization that has endorsed Platner, said that “I have not seen the momentum at all slowing for Graham.”
“The consensus amongst a lot of people is that we need to allow people to change and to grow and to become different people,” Smith said.
And she also cautioned national Democrats against trying to influence the outcome.
“I think people in Maine don’t like to be told what to do from outside. I also think that the Democratic Party at the national level does not have a very high approval rating, so I’m not sure how much establishment Democrats coming into Maine saying this is our candidate, is going to be helpful for either candidate,” Smith said.
Bagby, meanwhile, is still making up her mind.
“I think Janet Mills feels safe, because we know what she stands for. We know what she’s done, versus Graham Platner, he’s new, and now all these things are coming out,” she said. “So, I think it’s just gonna be kind of a game-time decision based on what he says these next couple of months.”