LaRosa Warns Democrats on Backing Maine Candidate Platner 10 Days Before Primary

1 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 30

Michael LaRosa said Democrats are playing a “dangerous game” by rallying behind Graham Platner, arguing the party is sacrificing standards to try to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Platner still leads polls despite resurfaced explicit posts, a tattoo of a Nazi symbol and past remarks mocking a Purple Heart veteran wounded by the Taliban, controversies LaRosa said should disqualify him.
LaRosa said he will not publicly support, donate to or work for Platner, and argued Collins is closer to his own political style than what he called Platner’s performative economic populism.
The June 9 primary is effectively settled after Gov. Janet Mills ended her bid last month, making Platner the Democrats’ presumptive nominee to face five-term incumbent Collins in November.
LaRosa cast the race as part of a wider Democratic rift, saying views once mainstream in the party are now being purged and warning Maine could deliver another disappointment like Sara Gideon’s 2020 loss.

When a populist message resonates, does a candidate's controversial past become irrelevant to voters?