Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is testing the strength of his political movement in Maine on Tuesday as voters head to the polls in three Democratic primaries.
Sanders has endorsed candidates for governor and Senate in Maine. In the 2nd Congressional District, Sanders has not endorsed a candidate, but one of the leading Democratic contenders has touted his longtime support for the Vermont senator.
Sanders’s interest in the Pine Tree State comes as no surprise, as it has long embraced antiestablishment, populist candidates. The two-time presidential candidate won Maine during his 2016 run and finished second in 2020, losing to Joe Biden by fewer than 2,000 votes.
The state has a rich history of splitting tickets and embracing an independent streak. Moreover, despite voting Democrat in every presidential election since 1992, the state has not had a Democratic senator since 1995, though Sen. Angus King (I-ME) caucuses with the party. Maine’s conservative 2nd District, which President Donald Trump has never lost, has elected a Democrat since 2018.
Sanders has appeared in Maine for rallies three times since 2025, the most recent two appearances coming over Memorial Day weekend, as he tries to transform the state’s body politic.
Senate
Embattled Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner launched his campaign last August and was quick to get Sanders’s endorsement. The Vermont octogenarian has stuck with him ever since, even as a flurry of scandals, including covering up a Nazi tattoo and sending sexually explicit messages to other women while married, have bogged Platner down.
Sanders did not address the scandals when asked about them last week by the Washington Examiner, instead pivoting to the money being spent against Platner by outside groups.
“Why do we think that Republican super PACs controlled by billionaires want to spend an extraordinary amount of money to defeat Graham Platner?” Sanders said. “That’s a good reason to vote for him.
“Why don’t we examine income and wealth inequality,” Sanders said when asked about reports that Platner had told Senate Democrats there were no credible allegations of sexual assault against him.
Sanders reaffirmed his support of Platner in a social media post over the weekend.
“We cannot continue to allow the Republican Party to control the Senate and push forward Trump’s oligarchic and authoritarian agenda,” wrote Sanders. “And there is only one candidate who will do something about it. And that candidate is Graham Platner.”
Platner cleared the primary field and is the presumptive nominee as his fundraising and polling dominance boxed Gov. Janet Mills (D), the Democratic establishment’s choice, out of the race. Mills remains on the ballot ahead of Tuesday’s primary.
Still, Mills has not run an active campaign for several weeks.
Governor
Sanders has also endorsed former state Sen. Troy Jackson for the Democratic nomination for governor of Maine. Jackson, a logger from a rural county that borders Canada, has run a Sanders-style populist campaign focused on the working class.
Jackson was floated as a possible candidate for the 2nd District after Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) announced his retirement, but he opted to remain in the governor’s race. Jackson is among the front-runners for the nomination, according to available polling data.
Despite running in the Sanders mold, outside groups have criticized Jackson for his previous anti-abortion stances, which include a “100% rating” from Maine Right to Life, according to an ad from 314 Action Fund. 314 Action Fund supports Nirav Shah in the primary.
Whoever emerges from the Democratic primary is expected to be the heavy favorite in November to succeed term-limited Mills.
2nd Congressional District
Sanders hasn’t endorsed in the open seat to replace Golden, but that hasn’t stopped the field from tacking to the left and embracing the Democratic socialist.
Maine Auditor Matt Dunlap launched his campaign originally as a challenge to Golden, arguing the four-term congressman wasn’t serving his constituents by siding with Republicans on a series of votes. He attempted to carve out an antiestablishment lane and has featured Sanders in multiple TV ads, in which he’s touted his role as co-chair of Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign in Maine.
Throughout the campaign, Dunlap has touted support for Medicare for All, a policy Sanders has long championed.
“I think people want to have somebody who’s going to go down to Washington and fight for … things like some type of single-payer Medicare for All program where people don’t have to think about health insurance,” Dunlap said at a December town hall in Augusta attended by this reporter.
Dunlap also scored an endorsement from Our Revolution, an outside group formed by Sanders, which backs progressive candidates.
But he created some enemies in the Beltway for his challenge to Golden, who at the time had not announced his 2026 plans. Both the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and House Majority PAC, the main super PAC for House Democrats, backed state Sen. Joe Baldacci (D), the brother of a former governor.
House Majority PAC and Baldacci established a joint fundraising committee and began running ads slamming Dunlap for past anti-abortion votes while in the Maine Legislature.
“With deep roots in Maine and a strong record of standing up for working families, HMP firmly believes that Joe Baldacci will defeat scandal plagued Paul LePage,” the PAC’s spokesman CJ Warnke told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
FOUR SCANDALS MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE GRAHAM PLATNER IS FACING
At the same time, a GOP-linked super PAC with little footprint aired TV ads calling Dunlap a “progressive champion” and touting his support for Medicare for All. The group, Real Change PAC, previously meddled in a New Jersey Democratic primary to no avail.
The winner of the primary takes on former Gov. Paul LePage (R), who is favored to win the November election. Trump won the northern Maine district by nearly 10 points in 2024, and LePage won the district twice during his two runs for governor.
