Senate Republicans are warning that scandal-plagued candidate Graham Platner could still defeat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, if the party fails to take the race seriously. The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) memo stated that it is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win, given his Nazi tattoo, allegations of misogynist violence, and socialist policy platform.

Maine’s Importance in the Senate

Maine is the only Republican-held Senate seat in a state won by Kamala Harris in 2024, making it Democrats’ most direct path to returning Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., to the majority leader’s office. The NRSC agreed that Maine is the linchpin of the 35 seats up this year and that despite Platner’s flaws, he remains a credible threat to the middle-of-the-road Collins.

Senator Collins has won tough races before and can win this one, but only if we meet this moment with total urgency, the NRSC said. Because Democrats cannot win the majority without Collins’ seat, they have fully rallied around Graham Platner, an extremely flawed, far-left candidate who secured the nomination last night.

Platner has captured his party’s financial backing, outraising Senator Collins in every quarter since entering the race. We must match both the energy and the money to retain the seat, the memo said. The NRSC said Democrats don’t view Platner’s race as being about the flawed candidate but rather about usurping power.

Platner’s Scandals

The committee said any one of Platner’s multiple scandals would have ended most campaigns, but Democrats remain united around him. The NRSC reported that after former girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield’s allegations against Platner broke, Platner raised $200,000 in one day in what the campaign said was its best haul of the cycle.

The political fundamentals in Maine remain challenging, and it is a fatal mistake to assume Platner is too damaged to win, the NRSC said. Collins is the last remaining federal Republican in New England and the only Republican in the Senate north or east of Pennsylvania.

The NRSC reported that Platner is beating Harris’ own margins by seven points while noting Collins has won tough races in the past, but this one is different. Collins won her last race against former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon by about eight points, and her last electoral loss was way back in 1994 when now-Sen. Angus King Jr., I-Maine, won the governorship in a four-way contest.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.