PORTLAND — The state’s largest labor organization has endorsed Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner, saying he will help improve the lives of working Mainers.
Sarah Bigney McCabe, organizing director for the Maine AFL-CIO, which represents 40,000 Mainers, said Friday they will work hard to help Platner defeat incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
“When AFL endorses, we put boots on the ground,” McCabe said during the announcement at a Portland Elks Lodge. “We’ll be out canvassing, talking to our neighbors, talking to our members at worksites all across the state to make sure they know why Graham is the pick for working people.”
The endorsement came on May Day, which is a celebration of the “struggles and achievements of the labor movement,” according to the union. It also came one day after Platner’s chief rival, Gov. Janet Mills, dropped out of the race saying she was unable to raise the money necessary to compete.
Collins' spokesman Shawn Roderick said her work as chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee is paying off for Maine.
"Graham Platner is on the campaign trail," he said. "Susan Collins is on the job. Today, she's in Alfred touring the York County Regional Training Center, a facility to train those who protect our communities for which she delivered $3.4 million."
On June 9, Platner will face David Costello of Brunswick for the right to take on Collins in November. The race has national implications, with Maine representing one of the seats Democrats need to win to take back control of the Senate.
Matt Schlobohm, executive director of the union, said they believe Platner — a combat veteran and oyster farmer — understands the struggles of working people.
“Right now, working people are getting squeezed six ways to Sunday by the rising costs of housing, healthcare, childcare, groceries, energy and everything else,” he said. “At the exact same time that living standards and life expectancy for working class people is declining, billionaires and big corporations have never been richer.”
While accepting the endorsement, Platner said big changes in society have always been driven by workers who banded together to fight for something better.
“The rich are going to be fine,” he said. “Down here, in the working communities of Maine, we aren’t fine. We need to learn that the only way to do this is to build power together.”
In response to questions from reporters, Platner said he’s prepared to face a barrage of negative ads highlighting his controversial past social media comments.
At last weekend’s state Republican convention, Collins mentioned a few of Platner’s controversies, including his description of police officers as “bastards” and the tattoo he had covered that some characterize as a Nazi symbol. Dozens of times over the last several months, Platner has apologized, saying the comments do not reflect his current views.
“We’ve seen already in this campaign negative ads against me failed spectacularly,” he said. “In fact, we went up in the polls. I think people are done with that kind of politics.”