If you just looked at candidates’ backgrounds, you would think Democrats had an easy choice between a popular incumbent governor and a political newcomer. But in Maine, whether guided by either Gov. Janet Mills’ age (78) or oyster farmer Graham Platner’s (41) energy, Platner is taking the clear lead.
On this week’s Substack Live, The Argument’s Director of Political Data Lakshya Jain joined Split Ticket’s Armin Thomas and VoteHub’s Zachary Donnini to discuss what’s happening in the state.
Democrats may be leaning toward the more bombastic candidate because they think that is what has worked for Republicans, but Lakshya is skeptical of this strategy:
“The reason Republicans don’t have 60 seats in the House or in the Senate right now, the reason that they don’t have 235 in the House is, is actually down to the fact that they nominate people like Joe Kent and Kari Lake regularly in swing districts,” Lakshya said. “I kind of think Graham Platner is going to shape up to be more like Joe Kent or Herschel Walker than he’s going to shape up to be someone like, you know, like Ruben Gallego.”
