Distance from Graham

Today’s notice: The new requirement to run for Senate in Maine. Michigan Democratic Senate candidates debate Bibi. Project 2029, why not. More trouble ahead for the ACA. And: Why D.C. residents will pay more for DoorDash and UberEats.

THE LATEST

While they wait for Graham Platner to drop out, which it is important to note he has not yet done, Democrats in Maine are busying themselves trying to figure out how to replace him as their Senate nominee. Who gets to be considered?

“People who have come to his defense are more at risk now,” a former state party official told NOTUS’ Christa Dutton of what kind of Platner baggage is acceptable in a new nominee.

This poses a complex problem. Platner set Democratic politics in Maine alight, drawing huge crowds and prompting the state’s sitting Democratic governor to suspend her campaign. That energy drew a lot of support from elected officials. But now those same folks are seen as tainted; someone who has no connection at all to the movement that animated the electorate is seen as the safer pick.

The list of potential replacements is getting longer. The former director of the state’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nirav Shah, and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows — both of whom lost in the gubernatorial primary — are interested. (A third candidate from that race, former state Senate President Troy Jackson, has officially filed to run.)

Bellows actually campaigned with Platner, but is now calling for him to drop out. Is that enough distance?

Before anyone can find out how far is far enough, Platner has to make his move. Again, he’s still the nominee until he’s not. He has to quit by Monday to start the actual process to replace him. Even the Maine Democratic Party says Platner’s team is reaching out, but he has “no role” other than to drop out. If he’s waiting for someone to call him and ask who the next nominee should be, he will keep waiting. No one’s interested in who he wants, Christa writes.

“That person will be dead in the water with the general electorate from the beginning,” state Sen. Joe Baldacci said. For what it’s worth, he also told Christa he is not looking to be Platner’s replacement.

Open tabs: NATO unveils billions in arms deals to prove its firepower as Trump again demands Greenland (AP); Trump-promoted Freedom Fuel gas stations are opening around Philly (Inquirer); IOC paves way for Russia’s Olympic return (Politico); White House dismisses birthright citizenship irony in Balogun case (USA Today)

From Michigan

The Democratic Senate primary debate last night was the first major event of the newly two-way race after state lawmaker Mallory McMorrow dropped out last week. NOTUS’ Igor Bobic reports that, unsurprisingly, Israel became a flashpoint. Rep. Haley Stevens, who has received AIPAC support, pointed out that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently faulted her for being critical of him. “I am not afraid of bullies,” she said.

Former Wayne County public health director Abdul El-Sayed, currently leading primary polls with a strong pro-Palestine message, suggested the Stevens-Bibi argument was a political ruse. “I think he’s attacking her to try and steer away the stink of how staunchly she stands for their policy,” he said.

From the campaign trail

Meet Project 2029. It’s being drafted at the Center For American Progress, and yes it’s a similar idea to the conservative Project 2025 that caused so much trouble for Donald Trump in 2024 (before being largely adopted as a policy document in 2025, of course.) But drafters of the Democratic version tell NOTUS’ Daniella Diaz it will be a helpful addition to the next cycle. “We’re going to have many, many people running for president over the next year and a half or so,” said the project’s executive director, Chad Maisel. “This is really about anchoring that debate, shaping that debate on these big issues in particular.”

A preview of what’s inside: A child-care proposal that would offer either free, publicly funded child care or a $1,000-a-month “care credit” for families who opt out of the public option.

From HHS

Insurers are proposing premium increases again. More Americans could drop off Obamacare enrollments as insurers look for hikes in ACA marketplace premiums for next year, NOTUS’ Paige Winfield Cunningham reports. Last year, marketplace insurers across the country raised premiums by a median of 20%, she writes, and next year’s hikes could be similar, according to a KFF review of initial filings. Insurers have until July 15 to submit next year’s premiums to states.

NOTUS METRO

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Local news. That Food Delivery Is Soon Going To Cost You a Little More in D.C. By Martin Austermuhle

NOTUS PERSPECTIVES

After Lauren Leader criticized Graham Platner for reasons having nothing to do with Israel, she was hit with a torrent of comments accusing her of being secretly motivated by Zionism. And she wasn’t alone. Today at NOTUS Perspectives, she reminds progressives: Not everything is about Israel.

NEW ON NOTUS

Republicans do not like Donald Trump’s F-35 deal. The president wants to sell the jets to Turkey and it’s causing a stir in his own party, NOTUS’ Joe Gould reports. “Providing Turkey with our most advanced fighter jet would jeopardize U.S. national security, risk sensitive technology falling into the wrong hands, and endanger our allies in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East,” Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-New York) told NOTUS.

More: Trump Revokes Iran Oil-Sales Waiver After Strait of Hormuz Attacks, by Hamed Ahmadi

Judge Voids a ‘Staggering’ DOJ Bid for Georgia Election Workers’ Personal Data, by Angie Orellana Hernandez

Legal Defense Group Sues Administration for Sharing Asylum Records With Iran, by Angie Orellana Hernandez

Republican Leaders Say They’ve Spoken With Hospitalized McConnell, by Angie Orellana Hernandez and Al Weaver

NOT US

• A photo of a Black woman went viral. Her family says she’s more than a symbol. By Jasmine Golden for The Washington Post
• These Interns Are Capitol Hill’s Newest Main Characters, by Olivia Diaz for The New York Times
• Rutte to NATO: Admit it — Trump was right, by Paul McLeary for Politico
• A quiet day at the Kennedy Center, technically open and nearly empty, by Grey Battle for The Washington Post

BE SOCIAL

Or not.

Correction: Thursday’s edition misidentified Rep. Adam Smith’s status in Congress. He is currently serving as the U.S. representative for Washington’s 9th Congressional District.

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The newsletter was produced by Thomas Burr, Brett Bachman and Erik Schutz. Photo by Robert F. Bukaty/AP.