Republicans plan to spend big in Maine despite Platner’s downfall
Republicans are maintaining their spending strategies in Maine’s competitive Senate race despite recent allegations against Democrat Graham Platner, who faces calls to drop out following accusations of drunkenly sexually assaulting a former partner five years ago. Platner’s campaign has been marred by previous scandals, yet he remains a contender, with potential replacements like progressive Troy Jackson, who has notable endorsements but lacks political experience. The Maine race is extremely costly, with both parties and outside groups investing heavily-over $100 million from Republicans and more than $50 million from Democrats, approaching nearly $500 million in total ad spending for 2026.
Despite the turmoil, Republicans are confident in their advantage due to their significant war chest, including over $125 million on hand by the RNC and nearly $350 million from Trump. The recent Supreme Court decision eliminating limits on party spending in coordination with candidates favors Republican spending plans. The Democratic party has raised over $178 million but faces debt issues from previous campaigns. Republicans are poised to outspend Democrats substantially in the upcoming midterms, leveraging their financial advantages to bolster their chances of gaining control of the Senate.
Republicans aren’t yet changing their spending strategy for Maine’s hotly contested Senate race despite the latest allegations against Democrat Graham Platner that seem likely to end his campaign.
Platner is facing calls to drop out from members of his own party after he was accused on Monday of drunkenly sexually assaulting a former partner five years prior. The bombshell allegation came to light after a series of other scandals, including a Nazi tattoo and other allegations of improper romantic behavior, failed to drive him from the race earlier this year.
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The Maine race had been shaping up to be one of the most expensive in recent history. Republicans had committed north of $100 million, with Democrats earmarking more than $50 million themselves. Spending from outside interest groups saw total ad buys in Maine encroaching on $500 million for the 2026 cycle.
Democrats need to win four Senate races this cycle to take over majority control of the upper chamber, with experts eyeing Maine, North Carolina, Texas, Iowa, Alaska, and Ohio as the top pick-up opportunities. Republicans, who are sitting on a mountain of campaign cash, had planned to spend heavily on defense in those races, and sources familiar with the GOP’s 2026 midterm strategies say the party isn’t rewriting the ledger just yet.
“I’m still hearing different things on if he’ll actually drop, and if he does, [Republicans] will have to spend to define the replacement. Saving money is possible, but that would cut both ways,” one source familiar with Republicans’ campaign spending plan told the Washington Examiner. “If he stays in. I don’t buy that they’ll pull their money. They need Maine if they want to get to four.”
A veteran Republican operative working closely with President Donald Trump’s political team echoed those claims, noting that former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson appears to be the top contender to replace Platner should he end his candidacy.
Jackson, like Platner, comes from the progressive wing of the party and earned endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Maine’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, and even Platner himself during an unsuccessful 2026 bid to be the state’s governor. Jackson filed an exploratory committee with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday.
“He isn’t a veteran, but I think he presents a lot of the same problems for us that Platner did,” the Trump-linked consultant said Tuesday. “I mean, his family have been loggers since forever, and he’s talked about economic issues in a similar way. But he’s a known quantity in the state who has none of Platner’s baggage. If he ends up filling the ticket, we’re not going to be able to take our foot off the gas.”
“Best case scenario, Janet Mills replaces Platner, and we don’t have to spend a dime,” that person joked, noting that Mills, the state’s sitting Democratic governor, fell to Platner in the primary amid plummeting approvals with Maine voters.
Still, one former senior Trump White House official told the Washington Examiner that they expected Platner’s downfall to give Republicans some breathing room, given Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), the longest-serving senator in Maine’s history, has a lengthy track record of holding off Democratic challengers.
“There’s a reason that Susan Collins has been in the Senate for 30 years. She knows how to win, even if voters aren’t feeling the Republican in the White House,” the former Trump aide explained. “Platner, despite all the red flags, had that charisma factor that we were going to have to defend against, but I think it’s impossible for Democrats to put forward a new candidate who has that same ‘it factor’ this late in the game.”
At least one Republican-linked group is pulling some money. Pine Tree Results, a super PAC backing Collins’ campaign, cancelled $1.5 million worth of broadcast reservations for the week starting Thursday. The group still has $13.3 million worth of reservations on the books.
No matter the nominee, Republicans are likely to continue their gargantuan spending advantage over Democrats this cycle, thanks in no small part to last week’s Supreme Court decision on campaign finance laws.
On June 30, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to do away with limits on how much political parties can spend in coordination with individual candidates, a significant development for the GOP given the major cash advantage the party holds over national Democrats.
According to a top Trump political aide, the Republican National Committee entered the summer with roughly $125 million cash on hand, on top of Trump’s own war chest of nearly $350 million. The aide told the Washington Examiner that Republicans are prepared to outspend Democrats in 2026 by perhaps the largest margin in midterm history.
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The Democratic National Committee, despite raising more than $178 million in 2026, is saddled with debts racked up by former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.
“Our side has the hard-dollar flexibility because we’ve stockpiled and prepared for coordinated limits to end. Dems didn’t,” a senior Republican campaign official told the Washington Examiner.
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