2026年3月17日 / 美国东部时间上午6:27 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
缅因州正上演一场激烈的民主党初选，两名候选人争夺挑战五届共和党参议员苏珊·柯林斯的机会，柯林斯是即将到来的中期选举中共和党最脆弱的现任议员之一。
这场竞选将现任温和派州长珍妮特·米尔斯与进步派激进分子格雷厄姆·普拉特纳（Graham Platner）对立起来。普拉特纳是一名牡蛎养殖者、退伍军人和前私人军事承包商，近几个月来势头强劲。这也是一场代际之争：78岁的米尔斯强调她在全州范围内的获胜记录，而41岁的普拉特纳则将自己塑造为局外人候选人。
该州的民调有限，但最近的一些调查显示，普拉特纳在民主党初选中领先于米尔斯。根据联邦申报文件，普拉特纳的竞选团队可能还在资金上占据优势，去年筹集了约780万美元，而米尔斯筹集了260万美元，柯林斯筹集了460万美元。不太知名的民主党候选人大卫·科斯特洛（David Costello）仅筹集了略超2.1万美元（不含贷款）。
这场竞选是今年最受关注的参议院竞选之一，民主党有望在中期选举中获得参议院席位，这是一个难得的机会。鉴于这场竞选的高度关注度和全国性影响，它肯定会吸引大量外部资金投入。
这场高风险的竞选引发了攻击升级，米尔斯竞选团队周二发布了一则负面广告，突出普拉特纳据称在网络论坛Reddit上发表的争议性言论。
广告引用了普拉特纳2013年的言论，称关注强奸问题的女性”不该那么愚蠢，以至于最终和不想要的人发生性关系”，并说”看在上帝的份上，表现得像个成年人”。
据熟悉该竞选媒体策略的消息人士透露，这笔六位数的广告投放覆盖全州广播、有线电视和流媒体平台。
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻已联系普拉特纳竞选团队寻求置评。
普拉特纳此前为这些帖子中的许多内容道歉。当被问及与强奸相关的言论时，他去年告诉《大西洋月刊》，自己”非常尴尬”。
“对于那些读过这些内容并感到冒犯的人，对于那些看到一个陌生的我而感到不适的人，我深表歉意，”普拉特纳在10月的一段视频中表示，称这些帖子是”我人生早期写的”。他补充说，一些帖子反映了他在海军陆战队服役伊拉克和国民警卫队服役阿富汗期间经历的抑郁和创伤后应激障碍，当时军队中常见这种”粗俗幽默”。
普拉特纳的Reddit历史自去年秋天以来一直引发争议，当时美国有线电视新闻网和其他几家新闻媒体发现了他的帖子，其中他据称自称共产主义者，称警察为”混蛋”，并似乎认同农村白人有种族主义和愚蠢的观点。
去年，普拉特纳还因被发现有一个类似纳粹标志的纹身而受到审查。他表示，此后已遮盖了该纹身，称这是近20年前在克罗地亚一个酗酒之夜纹的，当时并未意识到它有纳粹含义。
社交媒体帖子和纹身加剧了党内争议，而两位主要民主党候选人在竞选活动中都将大量公开宣传重点放在攻击柯林斯上。
受欢迎的州长米尔斯是参议院少数党领袖查克·舒默（Chuck Schumer）的重要招募对象。在竞选期间，她强调自己作为地方检察官、总检察长和两届州长的记录——2022年以55%的得票率击败前共和党州长保罗·莱佩奇（Paul LePage）连任。她还誓言要与特朗普总统抗争，去年在白宫活动中与总统就跨性别运动员问题激烈交锋，引起全国关注。
“法庭见，”在特朗普威胁要切断对缅因州的资金支持后，米尔斯对总统说道。
但米尔斯成为党内基层要求代际变革的目标。在普拉特纳去年发布的一则广告中，一名未具名人士表示，”米尔斯是个好州长，但我认为现在是时候变革了。”他还称这场竞选是一场关于”旧思想与新思想”的”代际竞赛”。
普拉特纳发起了一场反叛式竞选，试图吸引民主党内的民粹主义和进步派势力。普拉特纳及其盟友认为，尽管民主党最近民调仍不受欢迎，但需要一个更具对抗性的候选人，不仅要挑战特朗普和共和党人，还要挑战党内建制派。
虽然米尔斯获得了舒默的支持，但普拉特纳获得了包括亚利桑那州参议员鲁本·加列戈（Ruben Gallego）和佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯（Bernie Sanders）在内的多名民主党核心小组成员的背书。他还得到了美国汽车工人联合会和缅因州护士协会的支持。
6月民主党初选的获胜者将对阵柯林斯，柯林斯已在参议院代表缅因州近三十年。
柯林斯是民主党重点打击目标，他们需要翻转四个共和党席位才能获得参议院多数席位——这一目标难度极大，因为今年涉及的大多数共和党席位都位于深红州。缅因州倾向民主党，特朗普2024年在全州范围内以9个百分点的优势领先民主党，但柯林斯仍在共和党中表现强势。2020年，尽管竞选支出仅为民主党对手萨拉·吉迪恩（Sara Gideon）的一半，柯林斯仍以8.6个百分点的优势击败对手，而特朗普在该州以9个百分点的劣势输给民主党。
柯林斯是一个终身缅因人，来自该州最北端、最偏远的郡，她塑造了自己作为愿意与特朗普和共和党领导人决裂的温和派形象，并在全州拥有深厚的地方关系。多年来，柯林斯一直让民主党感到棘手：2020年，尽管竞选支出仅为民主党对手萨拉·吉迪恩的一半，她仍以8.6个百分点的优势击败对手，而特朗普在该州以9个百分点的劣势输给民主党候选人。
Maine Democratic Senate primary grows increasingly bitter as party vies to unseat Susan Collins in key race
March 17, 2026 / 6:27 AM EDT / CBS News
A bitter Democratic primary is unfolding in Maine as two candidates battle for the chance to challenge five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins, one of the GOP’s most vulnerable incumbents in the upcoming midterm elections.
The race pits a centrist sitting governor, Janet Mills, against a progressive firebrand, Graham Platner, an oyster farmer, military veteran and former private military contractor who has built momentum in recent months. It’s also a generational contest, with the 78-year-old Mills pointing to her track record of winning statewide while 41-year-old Platner casts himself as an outsider candidate.
Polling in the race is limited, but some recent surveys show Platner leading Mills among Democratic primary voters. Platner’s campaign may also have a financial edge, raising some $7.8 million last year compared to Mills’ $2.6 million and Collins’ $4.6 million, according to federal filings. Less well-known Democratic candidate David Costello has raised just over $21,000, not including loans.
The race is one of this year’s most closely watched Senate contests, a rare opportunity for the party to pick up a seat in the chamber in the midterms. It is sure to draw significant outside spending, given the intense interest in the race and its national stakes.
The high-stakes contest has triggered an escalation in attacks, with the Mills campaign unveiling a negative ad Tuesday that highlights controversial statements allegedly made by Platner on the online forum Reddit.
The ad quotes Platner writing in 2013 that women concerned about rape should “not get so fed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to” and should “act like an adult for fs sake.”
According to sources familiar with the campaign’s media strategy, the six-figure ad buy is running statewide across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms.
CBS News has reached out to representatives of Platner’s campaign for comment.
Platner has previously apologized for many of those posts. Asked about the rape-related comment, he told The Atlantic last year that he was “f***ing embarrassed.”
“For those of you who have read these things and been offended, have read these things and seen someone that you don’t recognize, I am deeply sorry,” Platner said in an October video, saying the posts were written “in an earlier part of my life.” He added that some of the posts echoed the “crude humor” that was common in military circles, and reflected the depression and post-traumatic stress disorder that he faced after his time in Iraq with the Marine Corps and in Afghanistan with the National Guard.
Platner’s Reddit history has drawn controversy since last fall, when CNN and several other news outlets uncovered posts in which he allegedly called himself a communist, referred to cops as “bastards” and appeared to agree with the sentiment that rural White people are racist and stupid.
Platner has also faced scrutiny after it was revealed last year that he had a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol. He said he has since covered up the tattoo, which he says he got during a night of heavy drinking in Croatia almost two decades ago and didn’t realize it had any Nazi connotations.
The social media posts and tattoo have fueled intra-party controversy in a race where both major Democratic candidates have focused much of their public messaging on attacking Collins.
Mills, a popular governor, was a top recruit of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. During the campaign, she has pointed to her record as a district attorney, attorney general and two-term governor — winning reelection in 2022 with 55% of the vote against former GOP Gov. Paul LePage. She has also vowed to fight President Trump, drawing national attention last year, when she verbally sparred with the president about transgender athletes at a White House event.
“See you in court,” Mills said to Mr. Trump after he threatened to cut off funding to Maine.
But Mills is a target for calls for generational change from the party’s base. In one Platner ad released last year, an unnamed person says Mills “was a good governor, but I think it’s time for change.” He has also called the contest a “generational race” about “old ideas vs new ideas.”
Platner has run an insurgent campaign, seeking to appeal to the populist and progressive wings of the Democratic Party. Platner and his allies have argued that Democrats, who are still unpopular in recent polls, need a more confrontational candidate willing to not only challenge Mr. Trump and Republicans, but also buck the party establishment.
While Mills has Schumer’s backing, Platner has picked up endorsements from several members of the Democratic caucus, including Sens. Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Bernie Sanders of Vermont. He’s also drawn endorsements from the United Auto Workers and the Maine State Nurses Association.
The winner of the Democratic primary in June will face off against Collins, who has represented Maine in the Senate for nearly three decades.
Collins is a top target for Democrats, who need to flip four GOP-held seats in order to take a majority in the Senate, a tall order since most of the Republican-held seats at play this year are in deep-red states. Maine leans Democratic, with Mr. Trump losing statewide by 7 percentage points in 2024.
But defeating Collins is not necessarily an easy task. The lifelong Mainer — who hails from the state’s northernmost and most isolated county — has carved out an identity as a moderate who is willing to break with Mr. Trump and GOP leaders, and she has deep local ties throughout the state. Collins has vexed Democrats for years: She won reelection in 2020 by 8.6 points even as Mr. Trump lost in the state by 9 points, despite spending half as much money as Democratic opponent Sara Gideon.