Chapter 1: What major changes are happening in Maine's Senate race?
A major shakeup in Maine's Senate race, Governor Janet Mills drops out, reshaping a high-stakes battle that could determine control of the Senate.
The contrast between what common sense Mainers want and what the Democrat Party is offering, consistently and completely out of step with Maine.
I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howell. It's Friday, May 1st. This is Morning Wire.
After weeks of disruption, the Homeland Security shutdown is largely resolved, but funding for key border agencies remains uncertain.
Chapter 2: How has the DHS funding situation evolved after the shutdown?
Democrats that are setting the precedent for taking out ICE and Border Patrol out of the Homeland Security funding. And by the way, two can play at that game. So they're setting a precedent for how this is going to play out from now on.
And a major Supreme Court decision is already reshaping the political map.
Chapter 3: What were the critical factors leading to the reopening of DHS?
The Supreme Court said that in Louisiana's case, it was blatantly unconstitutional. And I think that principle applies probably in other states as well. We want constitutional maps. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. American agriculture isn't just another industry. It's a tradition passed down through generations.
It's families getting up before sunrise, putting in long days, and taking pride in raising food the right way. That's easy to forget when you're just grabbing something off the grocery store shelf. But the truth is, where you buy your meat matters. It supports those hardworking families and helps keep that legacy going.
Chapter 4: What impact does the Supreme Court's ruling have on congressional districts?
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Chapter 5: Who are the key players affected by the recent Supreme Court decision?
For free, plus $40 off your first order with code WIRE. GoodRanchers.com. American meat delivered. Control of the Senate is on the line, and the GOP's precarious hold on the chamber may come down to a crucial race in Maine.
That race has just narrowed after Democrat Governor Janet Mills pulled out, putting a controversial upstart, Graham Plattner, squarely in the driver's seat for the Democrat nomination.
Joining us now to discuss the state of the Senate race now in Maine is Steve Robinson, editor-in-chief of MaineWire. First of all, thank you so much for coming on. Oh, thank you very much for having me. So we just had this big development in your state. Governor Mills has withdrawn.
Chapter 6: What controversies surround Graham Plattner's candidacy?
She would have appeared to be the big player for the Democrats to try to give Republican Susan Collins a real run. Now she's out. She says she's actually out of campaign money. What happened with Janet Mills?
Well, I think that was the D.C. conventional thinking was that she was the best candidate and that she was going to be the strongest person to take on Senator Collins. But here in Maine, I was always very skeptical of the idea that she was going to run in the first place. In fact, I think I lost a lobster dinner to a D.C. Politico when she did declare her support was always very weak.
Really, the only message that she had during her brief primary campaign was that she, you know, was a brat at a White House dinner and picked a fight with President Trump over keeping boys and girls sports. And even in Maine, as far left and wacky as we are, that's like a 60-40 issue, a 70-30 issue. A bipartisan majority of voters disagree with the governor on that policy.
And so I never thought that she was going to be a very strong Senate contender. So I had always predicted that Governor Mills was going to drop out as soon as the legislature was done with its business.
Chapter 7: How are Democrats responding to the new funding bill for DHS?
That happens here in Maine on veto day, which took place on Wednesday. And I don't think that this is a good sign for Senator Collins. I think that Governor Mills would have been much more beatable. The fact that she never caught fire in the Democratic primary shows how soft support always was for her.
And Graham Platner, despite all of the controversies swirling around him, his Nazi tattoo, his history of making racist, lewd, homophobic, anti-Semitic comments on Reddit, his temper, very, very volatile personality. Democrats seem to be sticking with him almost as the anti-Trump, a reaction against Trump.
And so I think Senator Collins is going to be in for the toughest reelection she's had in her entire career.
So you mentioned some of the controversy surrounding Plattner. For our audience, we haven't talked much about him, frankly, in the past. What are some of the key controversies and why are voters attracted to him at all? Does he have charisma? What is it about him?
Well, so I think the first thing to know about Graham Platner is that he ended up as a candidate because he was an amateur actor in an aquaculture commercial. Some progressive political consultants saw it and flew up to Maine and convinced him to run as a candidate. So he was Tabula Rasa.
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Chapter 8: What are the implications of election integrity investigations in Georgia and Michigan?
He was like a punk internet communist type guy. But they saw a vision of a masculine guy who had military service and lived on the coast of Maine. And they figured they could use the same kind of political consulting that gave us Mayor Mamdani and Senator Fetterman. They are describing him as an Oyster Man. That's a joke here in Maine. There's no such thing as an Oyster Man.
There's a GQ profile that was written about him that is just dripping with homoeroticism. It's the craziest thing I've ever read. But they call him an Oyster Man. And it's not a thing. There's oyster farming. But then the other thing is that his oyster business is not even a business. It's a hobby.
So he has a hobby where he occasionally grows oysters, which he sells to his mother's restaurant and he lives off his disability payments. And also his father is a lawyer and his grandfather is a famous architect. So he's projected this image that he's like a crusty barnacle on the coast of Maine, working class guy, just like everybody else.
But he's a child of privilege, comes from an elite family, doesn't really work or have a business. And to the extent that he has military service, he's totally rejected that. In an interview a couple of weeks ago, he said that all of the nasty things that he's ever done in his life are written on Reddit. He blamed that on the military.
So he's running based on military experience that will appeal to Maine voters. Maine has one of the highest rates of veterans per capita of any state. But at the same time, he's trying to take the advantages of that. He's also saying the Marine Corps turned him into a racist buffoon.
Well, now you mentioned his Nazi tattoo that he's now partly covered up. Are you surprised that Maine voters aren't more turned off by that?
Well, I think we haven't yet. We haven't seen yet whether Maine voters will be turned off by that. What we're seeing is a, you know, a fringe minority of rabid progressives, many, many who moved to this state during COVID relocating here. There was about 25,000 or 30,000 immigrants.
Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut residents who fled cities, relocated to the coast of Maine during COVID, brought their politics with them. It's a very sharp, very distinct change in the politics of the state. And they've become very active political activists. So those are the people who form Graham Plattner's base.
And I think that the more moderate voters who aren't even paying attention to politics yet really haven't had an opportunity to reject him.
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