Graham Platner’s triumph, explained by a Maine reporter

One of the most hotly contested Democratic primaries of 2026 ended with a whimper rather than a bang Thursday, as Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) suspended her Senate campaign, making outsider oyster farmer Graham Platner the overwhelming favorite for the party’s nomination.The seat, currently held by five-term Sen. Susan Collins (R), is one of Democrats’ top pickup opportunities. But the primary battle surfaced many fascinating tensions inside today’s Democratic Party.What doomed Mills — anti-establishment sentiment, her age, a bad campaign, or all of the above? How did Platner survive what many expected to be a campaign-ending scandal? Were his bold left views an asset or a liability? And can we read big national trends into this outcome, or is it mainly about the particular candidates, and the quirky state, involved?To answer these questions, I spoke with Alex Seitz-Wald, a longtime national political reporter who moved to Maine and now works as deputy editor for the Midcoast Villager, a local newspaper. Since Maine’s Senate primary captivated national attention, Seitz-Wald has been a sort of Maine politics whisperer — a Maine-splainer — to national reporters. Here’s what he had to say.Did Janet Mills’s age — and the Biden hangover — doom her?Janet