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Voters are casting ballots in primary elections Tuesday in Maine, one of a handful states that could decide which party controls the Senate after this year's midterm elections. Democrats believe they have their best shot in years to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins, but their presumptive nominee has been mired in controversy.
Graham Platner is a 41-year-old oyster farmer and Marine veteran who entered the race as a populist progressive. Democratic Governor Janet Mills, who was urged to run by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, suspended her campaign in April amid polls predicting Platner would easily beat her — though she remains on the ballot. Platner's past, however, has cast a shadow on his campaign. The initial controversies focused on offensive posts Platner made on Reddit years ago and on a tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, which he has since apologized for and covered up. In recent weeks, sexually explicit text messages came to light that Platner had sent to women after getting married in 2023. The New York Times then reported that several women who had dated Platner recalled "unsettling" and abusive behavior by him, which he has denied.
For more, we speak with Kim Villanueva, national president of the National Organization for Women PAC, which supports Mills in the primary, and Maine resident Shay Stewart-Bouley, executive director of Community Change, Inc., who says Platner is speaking to people's material concerns and that voters may be "forgiving" for his "messy" personal life.
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Peru's presidential runoff is too close to call as ballots continue to be counted from Sunday's election between Keiko Fujimori, daughter of former dictator Alberto Fujimori, and leftist lawmaker Roberto Sánchez. Peruvian election officials say final results could take up to a month to confirm.
Peruvian economist and public policy expert Gustavo Guerra-García Picasso says "democracy has been undermined" by Fujimori and her right-wing coalition, and that "reforms must be implemented quickly to restore a presidential system with checks and balances."
We also speak with historian Greg Grandin, who situates the Peru election in a wider battle between right and left across Latin America — with the Trump administration conducting "an unprecedented program of aggression" against leftists.
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Representative Ro Khanna said that he believed the account of a woman who accused Graham Platner of physically threatening behavior, and urged his campaign not to criticize her.
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(First column, 9th story, link)
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(Second column, 1st story, link)
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