A group aligned with Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, has launched a website compiling the “red flags” raised by her Democratic opponent, Graham Platner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the site, Pine Tree Results, a fundraising committee, listed the various transgressions that have followed Graham Platner\u2019s campaign as he looks to unseat Collins and flip a key Republican-held Senate seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Over 20 years of a grown man revealing his true character with one red flag after another,” the website states. “He’s radical. Dangerous. Too extreme for Maine.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drawing from social media, Reddit and reporting, the website offers viewers a graveyard full of Platner\u2019s most controversial moments and issues, hoping to keep them in public view as the campaign enters its final six months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In particular, it lists seven key “flags”: the way Platner has talked about rape victims, a Nazi tattoo Platner had removed, comments where he called police “bastards,” derogatory remarks about Maine residents, alleged sympathy for terrorists, comments about communism, and “bigoted” thoughts about minorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Platner\u2019s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pine Tree Results, founded in January of last year, according to FEC records, has amassed a mostly untapped $12.7 million war chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the series of scandals highlighted by Pine Tree Results, Democrats are counting on Platner to carry the party banner in a state that they believe is ripe for a Senate win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He became the de facto party nominee earlier this year when former Maine governor Janet Mills, 78, announced she would suspend her campaign after it became clear Platner had more momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins, a political moderate, has found success in the historically Democratic Pine Tree State as a Republican. She last won reelection in 2020 in a 51% to 42.4% victory over Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, a Maine state legislator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democrats are hoping Platner\u2019s pitch as a political outsider will convince voters to ditch the five-term incumbent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Platner has framed the PAC\u2019s attacks as proof that his campaign has enough momentum to draw scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A Republican super PAC called \u2018Pine Tree Results,\u2019 funded by twelve billionaires, just bought $2 million worth of attack ads against our campaign. It\u2019s all out-of-state money. Not a single dollar coming from Maine,” Platner said in a post to Instagram last month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If they clear their respective primary elections next month, Collins and Platner will face off in the state\u2019s general elections on Nov. 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n