Platner Wins Maine Primary as Graham Leads and Evette Heads to Runoff

Voters in Maine, South Carolina, Nevada and North Dakota went to the polls Tuesday, and the results set up a closely watched Senate race in Maine and a Republican runoff for governor in South Carolina, according to NBC News and CBS News.

In Maine, Graham Platner, a 41-year-old Marine veteran and oyster farmer, won the Democratic Senate primary, CBS News projected. He will face Republican Sen. Susan Collins, 73, a five-term incumbent who was unopposed in her primary. Gov. Janet Mills, whom Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had recruited, dropped out in April, though her name stayed on the ballot. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren had endorsed Platner.

The race is rated a toss-up by the Cook Political Report, CBS reported. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, so Democrats would need to flip four, and CBS noted they would likely need Maine to do it. NBC News noted that Collins is the only Republican senator from a state Trump lost in 2024.

Platner arrives with baggage. CBS described reports about text messages his wife said he sent to other women and claims about his behavior toward women he dated, including one allegation of physical abuse that he denies. He has called the claims politically motivated and has covered a Marine-era tattoo that CBS describes as a widely recognized Nazi symbol. “I’ve made mistakes in my life,” Platner said, according to CBS. A National Republican Senatorial Committee memo called him “wounded,” CBS reported, and Schumer said, “we’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.”

Maine’s governor primaries in both parties produced no majority, so ranked-choice tabulation will decide them, NBC reported. On the Democratic side, Troy Jackson, Shenna Bellows and Hannah Pingree formed an alliance and ranked one another on their ballots, and about 60 percent of primary voters were choosing one of the three, NBC said. Nirav Shah led early in the count, and Angus King III was also described as a leading candidate. Second-choice counts will take days.

In South Carolina, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, whom Trump endorsed, led challenger Mark Lynch, a wealthy businessman, in early returns, NBC News reported: with about 30 percent counted he had 59 percent to Lynch’s 27 percent, though in Greenville County, which gave Trump more votes than any other county in 2024, the race was close with about a quarter counted. Democrat Annie Andrews won her party’s Senate nomination, NBC News projected.

The Republican race for governor heads to a June 23 runoff between Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, whom Trump endorsed in May, and Attorney General Alan Wilson, NBC reported. Rep. Nancy Mace was in fifth place with 81 percent of the expected vote in, NBC reported; Rep. Ralph Norman, who left his House seat open to run, was also in the field. NBC noted Trump had endorsed both Graham and Evette.

In Nevada, Gov. Joe Lombardo, a Republican, was projected the winner of his primary, and Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford won his party’s nomination. In North Dakota, Rep. Julie Fedorchak faced a challenge from Alex Balazs, a veteran and former State Department official whom she defeated in the 2024 primary and who won the state party’s endorsement again; NBC had no results from that race in its latest update.

Votes in California’s primary were still being counted, NBC said. NBC projected that Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton would meet in the November general election for governor; Tom Steyer, who spent more than $215 million of his own money, was out of the race.