Dem senators deflect questions on Platner’s scandal-plagued campaign: ‘Not following that race closely’

Dem senators deflect questions on Platner's scandal-plagued campaign: 'Not following that race closely'

Dem Senators Durbin, Booker and Welch all said they aren't focused on the race to unseat Susan Collins in 2026

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Democratic Senators say they’re undecided about Graham Platner’s many controversial statements, with many choosing to put their focus elsewhere

The silence does little to clarify their view of whether his previous remarks jeopardize his Senate bid to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. (Credit: Nicholas Ballasy for Fox News Digital)

Democratic senators largely avoided answering questions about Graham Platner, the controversial candidate in Maine looking to unseat Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and his many off-color comments that have resurfaced in recent months.

Most Democrats told Fox News Digital they aren’t focused on the Maine contest.

"I’m not following that race closely," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., told Fox News Digital earlier this week when approached about Platner.

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Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., left, pictured next to Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, right. (Da Marie Odgaard / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images; Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The comments — and in many cases, silence — from Democratic lawmakers have done little to clarify whether lawmakers see Platner’s past remarks on sexual abuse, race and terror as a meaningful threat to his Senate candidacy.

It’s a seat Democrats believe presents a ripe opportunity; a chance to knock off a moderate Republican in a Democratic-leaning state. Should Platner take the nomination, Democrats will have to hope his colorful past won’t turn enough voters away to inadvertently hand Collins a sixth term.

Collins, who first took the seat in 1997, last won re-election in 2021 in a 51.0% to 42.4% victory over Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, a state legislator.

Among other resurfaced comments, Platner in one Reddit post once blamed rape victims for failing to protect themselves.

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Senate candidate Graham Platner, D-Maine, speaks at a town hall at the Franco Center in Lewiston, Maine, on Oct. 15, 2025. (Libby Kenny/Sun Journal via AP)

"How about people just take some responsibility for themselves and not so f—– up when they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to?" Platner wrote in 2013.

"If you don’t want to be in a compromising situation, act like an adult for f—- sake."

To Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., the story behind those comments isn’t clear. Like Durbin, Booker said his focus has been elsewhere.

"I have not been focusing on this race," Booker said.

But he promised to give the matter a closer look.

"I am going to do my due diligence and look through the full body of evidence around him. He has a case to make to the voters, not to people like me. And he needs to make it because obviously this election is highly consequential," Booker said.

MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE CITES COMBAT TRAUMA WHEN CONFRONTED ON 'TERRIBLE' POSTS ABOUT SEXUAL ASSAULT

Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., speaks to reporters at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on March 3, 2026, following a briefing by Trump administration officials on U.S. strikes on Iran. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Still, other senators said the Maine race is the prerogative of voters in the Pine Tree State.

"It’s up to Maine," Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said. "It’s up to Maine’s people."

Leo Briceno is a politics reporter for the congressional team at Fox News Digital. He was previously a reporter with World Magazine.

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