Janet Mills Unveils a Second Ad Targeting Graham Platner’s Words

Gov. Janet Mills’ campaign on Tuesday unveiled a second ad targeting Graham Platner’s online history, referencing a pair of previously reported slurs written by the Democratic candidate years before he entered the Senate race in Maine.

The ad, which was first shared with NOTUS, comes a week after Mills’ first ad focused on Platner and cements the governor’s plans to aggressively attack Platner’s history ahead of the Democratic primary in June.

The Mills campaign believes that most Maine voters are still unaware of some of the things Platner has said and will be persuaded not to support his campaign after finding out about them, a source close to the campaign previously told NOTUS.

The newest ad starts with a video of Platner saying he “made a lot of comments that I’m not ashamed of” before referencing two disparaging remarks he had written in 2013 about rape victims. The two additional slurs referenced in this week’s ad refer to comments Platner made during an online argument in 2018 and another in 2021.

Platner last week again apologized for his online comments, saying that they did not reflect his values today. His campaign has also run a pair of ads in response to the Mills attack, including one in which Platner asks voters not to judge him for “the worst thing I said on the internet, on my worst day 14 years ago.”

Mills, a sitting two-term governor and the preferred choice of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, is facing an unexpectedly tough fight against Platner, a veteran and oyster farmer with no national name recognition before he entered the race.

Platner’s pitch — he casts himself as an anti-politician trying to bring about a blue-collar revolution in Washington — has led to fame among some Democrats and vaulted him into the lead in the primary, according to polls.