{"id":2608978,"date":"2026-06-01T09:22:02","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T13:22:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/graham-platner-homes-in-on-susan-collinss-financial-disclosures-after-weekend-playing-defense-over-explicit-texts\/"},"modified":"2026-06-01T09:23:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T13:23:24","slug":"graham-platner-homes-in-on-susan-collinss-financial-disclosures-after-weekend-playing-defense-over-explicit-texts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/graham-platner-homes-in-on-susan-collinss-financial-disclosures-after-weekend-playing-defense-over-explicit-texts\/","title":{"rendered":"Graham Platner homes in on Susan Collins&#8217;s financial disclosures after weekend playing defense over explicit texts"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgraham-platner-homes-in-on-susan-collinss-financial-disclosures-after-weekend-playing-defense-over-explicit-texts%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2608978&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Graham Platner, the Democratic challenger to Sen.Susan Collins in Maine, is trying to redirect attention from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fact-check-do-most-americans-oppose-the-hyde-amendment\/\" title=\"Fact check: Do Most Americans Oppose The Hyde Amendment?\">fresh controversy<\/a> in his own campaign-after reports that Platner sent <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >sexually explicit messages<\/a> to multiple women while married. Instead,his team says Collins is the bigger issue,pointing to her stock portfolio and increased wealth over time.<\/p>\n<p>In an open letter shared with *Politico*, Platner\u2019s campaign argues that Collins earns far more through passive investment income and that the corporations backing her are contributing to higher costs for Maine families.platner contrasts his own finances-citing his oyster farm and a reported <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-releases-list-of-president-trumps-accomplishments-and-it-is-historic\/\" title=\"White House Releases List of President Trump\u2019s Accomplishments \u2013  And It Is Historic!\">net worth<\/a> around $100,000-with collins\u2019s reported net worth of up to about $9.6 million, and portrays himself as a local, everyday Mainer.<\/p>\n<p>Collins\u2019s campaign dismissed the attack as hypocritical,while the piece also notes that Collins\u2019s husband,Thomas Daffron,holds stock connected to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/naked-partisanship-and-influence-peddling-conservatives-blast-bidens-nominee-to-head-omb\/\" title=\"\u2018Naked Partisanship And Influence Peddling\u2019: Conservatives Blast Biden\u2019s Nominee To Head OMB\">defense contractors<\/a>. The article concludes that, barring unexpected changes, Platner and Collins are expected to face each other in the November general election.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<article class=\"fn-body\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/maine\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"193\">Maine<\/a> Democratic Senate candidate <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/graham-platner\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"22643\">Graham Platner<\/a> is pointing fingers at incumbent Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/susan-collins\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"1302\">Susan Collins\u2019s<\/a> (R-ME) stock assets as he seeks to shift voters\u2019 eyes from another controversy plaguing his campaign this weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">News broke this weekend that Platner\u2019s wife previously told his former political director she was aware of <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4588537\/platner-wife-sexually-explicit-texts-aide\/\">sexually explicit messages <\/a>that Platner had sent to multiple women while they were married. But Platner is hoping to turn over a new leaf, shifting the focus to Collins with a new letter on her financial disclosures and her increase in wealth throughout her time in Congress.<\/p>\n<section class=\"explore-more-section\" id=\"wex-recommended-widget\">\n<div class=\"magazine-container single\">\n<h1 class=\"magazine-title mt-2\">Recommended Stories<\/h1>\n<p>             <i class=\"fa-solid fa-play icon\"><\/i>         <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-grid\">\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4588847\/pratt-rallies-supporters-los-angeles-mayoral-race\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Pratt rallies supporters as Los Angeles mayoral race enters final stretch<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4588508\/spencer-pratt-vows-to-end-animal-abuse\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Spencer Pratt vows to end animal abuse with \u2018PAWS\u2019 task force: \u2018The city of angels is a city of dogs\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<div class=\"explore-card\">                         <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/4588430\/spencer-pratt-enforce-law-los-angeles-mayor\/?itm_source=parsely-api\">                             <\/p>\n<div class=\"explore-thumb-wrap\">                                                                                                                                  <\/div>\n<h3>Spencer Pratt will enforce \u2018laws Democrats voted for\u2019 as Los Angeles mayor<\/h3>\n<p>                         <\/a>                     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cSusan Collins is nearly 100 times wealthier than Graham Platner. The corporations writing her checks are the same ones raising costs for Maine families. And the senator who arrived in Washington with debt in 1996 is leaving\u2014when she loses in November\u2014with a fortune,\u201d Platner\u2019s campaign wrote in the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/f\/?id=0000019e-8025-d916-a39f-ea6df6f20000&#038;nname=playbook&#038;nid=0000014f-1646-d88f-a1cf-5f46b7bd0000&#038;nrid=849aba7f-f4d5-44d1-8dff-3ca5fb878b65\">open letter<\/a> shared with <em>Politico<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Platner\u2019s hit against Collins on her stock portfolio is a safe play among the mainstream Democratic Party, which has been <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3789414\/democrats-target-susan-collins-stock-trading-ban\/\">slamming Collins for her stock trading habits<\/a> over the past year but has also had a hot-and-cold relationship with the controversy-laden progressive Platner campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The populist oyster farmer was embraced by progressives such as Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/bernie-sanders\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"41\">Bernie Sanders <\/a>(I-VT) in the campaign, but Senate Minority Leader <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/chuck-schumer\/\" type=\"post_tag\" id=\"384\">Chuck Schumer<\/a> (D-NY) initially picked and backed Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) before she dropped out of the primary. The extramarital texts are the latest controversy to hit Platner\u2019s campaign to unseat Collins in Maine, following contention over a now-covered-up <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/3858840\/maine-senate-graham-platner-nazi-tattoo\/\">tattoo resembling Nazi imagery<\/a> and deleted explicit <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/4588033\/graham-platner-question-armenia-genocide-reddit\/\">social media posts<\/a>. The controversies have caused mainstream Democrats such as Sen. <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4588822\/cory-booker-concerns-platner-scandal\/\">Cory Booker<\/a> (D-NJ) and Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) to <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4588822\/cory-booker-concerns-platner-scandal\/\">voice concern<\/a> over Platner\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Platner, turning away from the focus on these scandals, is painting himself as an everyday Mainer who \u201cdoesn\u2019t have a stock portfolio\u201d and \u201cdoesn\u2019t take money from Super PACs or the oligarchs exploiting working Mainers\u201d in the letter shared Monday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat he does have is a small business, family and friends, and a local community where he goes to the grocery store, gets gas, and lives with the same rising costs and pressures that Maine families are facing every day. As for Susan Collins, she made more in passive investment income last year than most Maine households earn from a full year of work,\u201d Platner\u2019s campaign wrote.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Collins\u2019s campaign <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/playbook\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/playbook\">told <em>Politico<\/em><\/a>  that Platner\u2019s attempt to pin her as disconnected from everyday Maine residents is \u201cas laughable as it is hypocritical.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Directly juxtaposing his own income to Collins\u2019s, Platner listed his oyster farm as his greatest asset, while pinning Collins\u2019s greatest asset as her stock portfolio. He also listed his own net worth at $100,000, while listing Collins\u2019s as \u201cup to $9.6 million.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/campaigns\/congressional\/4588575\/how-democrats-could-replace-platner-after-primary\/\">HOW DEMOCRATS COULD REPLACE PLATNER ON THE MAINE SENATE TICKET AFTER HE WINS THE PRIMARY<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Collins\u2019s husband, Thomas Daffron, owns stock in several defense contracting companies while Collins chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee, a nugget that Democrats have <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/senate\/3789414\/democrats-target-susan-collins-stock-trading-ban\/\">long targeted<\/a> Collins on. Daffron holds tens of thousands of dollars in corporate securities stock in\u00a0War Department\u00a0contractors <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/Contracts\/Contract\/Article\/4262594\/\">Boeing<\/a> and RTX Corporation, according to an <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=cVYTb85_dZw&#038;t=730s\"><em>Al Jazeera<\/em> report<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Platner and Collins, each without a primary challenge, are all but assured to face each other in the November general election.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Graham Platner targets Susan Collins\u2019s stocks to shift focus from his scandals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3976,"featured_media":2608979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-collage-9usdkwtgm-1778177032569-e1778179939287.jpg?1780303565&amp;w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[41010,65649,33017,80593,34870],"class_list":["post-2608978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-financial-disclosures","tag-graham-platner","tag-political-analysis","tag-sexting-controversy","tag-susan-collins"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/image-collage-9usdkwtgm-1778177032569-e1778179939287.jpg?1780303565&amp;w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2608978"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2608982,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608978\/revisions\/2608982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2608979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2608978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2608978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2608978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}