Platner, a claimed oyster farmer and veteran, has been embattled in controversy surrounding his background in the last few weeks.

Platner, a claimed oyster farmer and veteran, has been embattled in controversy surrounding his background in the last few weeks.

On Tuesday, Graham Platner, the frontrunner in the Maine Democrat primary for Senate, advanced to the general election after Janet Mills suspended her campaign earlier this year. Platner's campaign has been mired in controversy over the last several weeks leading up to the primary election. 

Although Platner was able to walk away with the nomination thanks to Mills suspending her campaign, he may face an uphill battle in Maine against incumbent Senator Susan Collins, who has been in the Senate for nearly 30 years.

Graham, a claimed oyster farmer and veteran, has been embattled in controversy surrounding his background in the last few weeks, with Democratic strategists concerned over his electability as a candidate in the general election.

Reports from earlier this year brought significant controversy to Platner when it emerged that he had a tattoo resembling the Totenkopf, a Nazi symbol used by SS units. Platner claimed he had no knowledge of what the symbol represented when he got it, but his account was disputed by a former campaign staffer who alleged that Platner understood the symbol's significance at the time he chose to have it concealed. Platner was then tied to a Reddit account which appeared to show him discussing the symbol as recently as 2019.

That same Reddit account surfaced a range of other inflammatory content, including comments mocking an American soldier who was shot by Taliban terrorists, as well as posts indicating he had "became a communist."

Other reports have also emerged, with him sending explicit messages to multiple women after getting married to his current wife. That also wasn't the end of the reports, as the New York Times spoke to girls who dated Platner and alleged that he was abusive. Lyndsey Fifield, an ex-girlfriend of Platner who dated him from 2013 to 2015, said he would be rough with her and that Platner knew that he had a Nazi tattoo.