Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) said voters in Maine are giving Graham Platner, who won the Democratic Senate nomination, a chance to rebuild credibility as a candidate after a series of controversies about his past have surfaced.
“He understands he needs to do work; he understands they’re giving him a chance at redemption,” Khanna said on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins on Tuesday.
Platner won the Democratic primary on Tuesday and will face Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in November.
Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) dropped out of the race in April, making Platner the main Democratic contender.
“Susan Collins is formidable, but Graham has had a terrific night,” Khanna said.
He highlighted the “humility and strength” Platner showed during his victory speech.
“He talked about Maine giving him grace, Maine giving him a second chance. He talked about the need to earn people’s votes. So this was not an arrogant speech,” Khanna said.
Platner discussed redemption and the mistakes he lives with in his speech.
“I’ve made mistakes in my life, mistakes that I regret, that I live with, that I continue to learn from. And I’m still far from perfect. But every day, I wake up, I try to be a little bit better and a little bit kinder than I was the day before,” Platner said.
“And if you give me the chance, I will be a senator for the people who cannot afford to buy a senator.”
Platner faces scrutiny over several allegations.
The New York Times published a report last week detailing disturbing accounts from several of Platner’s ex-girlfriends. One woman named in the report described Platner as showing a lack of respect for women and their emotions; he was “cavalierly contemptuous” of their “weakness,” she said.
He also faces criticism over a series of sexually explicit messages he sent other women while he was married.
Platner is also in the center of a scandal involving a tattoo he got during his military service of a Totenkopf, which is a Nazi symbol. He claimed he had no idea of its meaning.
In an interview with Tommy Vietor of Pod Save America, Platner said, “I am not a secret Nazi.”
Platner has continued to face scrutiny over several allegations.
In the New York Times report, one of Platner’s ex-girlfriends said Platner had to have known what it meant because he was the one who taught her the word for it when they were dating.
She said he referred to it as “my Totenkopf.”
COLLINS AND PLATNER SET UP BLOCKBUSTER MAINE SENATE SHOWDOWN
He has since had the tattoo covered up.
The general election will take place on Nov. 3.