Democratic youth-focused groups endorse Graham Platner in Maine Senate race

A coalition of Democratic youth-focused groups endorsed oyster farmer and military veteran Graham Platner on Tuesday in the Maine Senate race to take on Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) next year.

The groups include former DNC vice chair David Hogg’s Leaders We Deserve, Voters of Tomorrow, College Democrats of America, Gen-Z for Change and Youth Save Democracy. Platner, whose campaign has focused on the working class and makes an economic populist pitch, is among a crowded field of Democrats looking to oust the five-term GOP incumbent.

“After our historic loss in the 2024 election, conversations within the Democratic Party have rightly centered on age, the loss of young men, the working class, and the growing disillusionment of young voters,” Hogg said in a statement. “As our party charts a path forward, Graham Platner represents not the entire solution, but a vital step in the right direction.”

Hogg also noted that if Platner were elected, he would be the second youngest Democrat in the upper chamber, implicitly contrasting the oyster farmer with Maine Gov. Janet Mills, 77, who is expected to announce a bid for Senate on Tuesday.

"While College Dems deeply appreciate the efforts of Janet Mills to stand up to MAGA's fascism, our party is in deep need of a new generation of leadership,” said Sunjay Muralitharan, national president of the College Democrats of America, in a statement.

“We require leaders with utmost authenticity and clear principles, ones that we can trust to fight for us. Graham Platner is that leader.”

The endorsements add to Platner’s growing profile within the party. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has notably backed the oyster farmer, and Platner’s campaign announced that he’s raised $4 million since his August launch – an impressive haul for a candidate who largely started as a political unknown.

Democrats are eager to oust Collins this cycle – a rare Republican incumbent who represents a state that former Vice President Harris won in November. Despite much excitement and close to $100 million spent between Collins and Democrat Sara Gideon during the senator’s last reelection race in 2020, Democrats failed to flip the Senate seat.

The endorsements also come at a time when the party is facing competing visions over how to best take on President Trump and Republicans, particularly after Democrats performed poorly during the 2024 election cycle and as their approval ratings have remained stubbornly low.

Some Democrats have pressed their older incumbents to pass the torch and allow a wave of newer and younger voices to run for office – a dynamic that’s certainly playing out in the Maine Democratic Senate contest.

“The status quo has failed young people and we’re done settling for politics as usual,” Voters of Tomorrow executive director Santiago Mayer said in a statement. “Gen Z wants leaders who will fight unapologetically for our future. Graham Platner is ready to meet that moment. He represents the new kind of leadership that young people want in the Senate.”

At the same time, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has reportedly courted Mills and other prominent Democrats like former North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) to wade into their respective states’ Senate races – underscoring that other Democrats are prioritizing electability in the Democratic nomination contests for some of the toughest Senate races this cycle.