Did Graham Platner play ‘key role’ in rape kit bill?

Fact-checking Graham Platner that his campaign played a ‘key role’ in passing Maine rape kit bill National Women 2026 Midterms Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks at a news conference April 30, 2026, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP) If Your Time is short In 2024, Maine’s legislature passed a bill requiring the state to inventory untested rape kits and establish a rape kit tracking system. Gov. Janet Mills did not sign that or 34 other late-arriving bills, saying she feared a legal challenge since they were last minute. In January 2026, Graham Platner, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, invited the author of a rape kit bill to speak at his town hall and encouraged the audience to call the governor. One month later, Mills said in a statement she included rape kit funding in her supplemental budget proposal, which became law in April. It’s not simple to parse whether Platner deserves credit for that. Graham Platner, the Maine Democrat who hopes to oust Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, has taken heat for comments he made about rape more than a decade ago. His campaign strategy emphasizes his present views, including his support for legislation to improve tracking of