Maine Super PAC Deploys $2 Million Attack Ads Against Democratic Front-Runner Graham Platner

The Pine Tree Results political action committee, a super PAC supporting Sen. Susan Collins, filed Federal Election Commission disclosures showing $1.96 million spent on TV and digital ads that began airing April 22. The ads target Democratic Senate primary candidate Graham Platner, citing a 2013 Reddit comment and a claimed Nazi tattoo.

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Pine Tree Results has received $2 million from Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, $100,000 from Palantir founder Alex Karp, and additional contributions from hedge-fund billionaire Paul Singer. The donors have ties to the Trump administration and previously supported the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” which granted tax breaks to private-equity firms while cutting Medicaid and food-assistance funding.

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The primary contest pits Democratic candidate Graham Platner against Republican Sen. Susan Collins and former Gov. Janet Mills, who is also a Democratic contender. Pine Tree Results serves as Collins’s fundraising arm, while Platner’s campaign reports raising three times more from small donors than Mills and Collins combined.

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FEC filings show the $1.96 million ad spend is roughly triple Platner’s primary-opponent fundraising. An early-April poll placed Platner 11 points ahead of Collins in a hypothetical general election and ahead of Mills in the primary. The race is viewed as pivotal for Democrats’ goal of flipping the Senate seat in November.

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Platner denied the ad’s accusations, saying he was unaware of any Nazi connotation of his tattoo and that he has since covered it. He apologized for the 2013 Reddit comment, describing it as made while intoxicated, and asserted that the campaign’s criticism was intended to intimidate.

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Liberal observers described the ads as a “back-firing” copy of a prior Mills advertisement. Independent journalist Nathan Bernard noted the similarity, while American Prospect editor David Dayen mocked the timing, suggesting Collins saved the attack for after the primary. Critics emphasize that the funding comes from “12 billionaires” and out-of-state money.

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The ads assert Platner “bragged about having a Nazi tattoo on his chest.” Platner counters that the ink, a skull-and-crossbones design obtained in Croatia in 2007, was meant as a “terrifying-looking” symbol, not a Nazi insignia. The contradictory framing remains unresolved.

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• “is essentially the same attack ad Janet Mills ran [last month], which backfired badly.” — Nathan Bernard, independent journalist

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• “I did not know what the fuck I was talking about.” — Graham Platner, Senate candidate

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• “They’re getting scared," he said.” — Graham Platner, Senate candidate

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• “I thought Collins was relishing running against Platner,” — David Dayen, American Prospect editor

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The ad campaign intensifies intra-party conflict in Maine’s Senate race and may reshape voter views of Platner’s suitability. The primary is set for June 9, after which both parties are expected to increase ad spending ahead of the November general election.

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