{"id":2174,"date":"2026-07-09T05:54:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T00:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=2174"},"modified":"2026-07-09T05:54:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T00:54:57","slug":"republicans-see-their-grip-on-senate-tighten-amid-democrats-dysfunction-in-maine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=2174","title":{"rendered":"Republicans see their grip on Senate tighten amid Democrats&#8217; dysfunction in Maine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"prism-article-body\">\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><span class=\"oyrPY qlwaB AGxeB  \">NEW YORK &#8212; <\/span>As Democrats scramble to contain a political <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/maine-senate-graham-platner-48d472ac4a043792032f3e3f5a33ef1b\">disaster in Maine<\/a>, the Republicans on the front lines of the GOP&#8217;s fight to hold the U.S. Senate majority are breathing a sigh of relief. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">For much of the year, Republican operatives have been quietly considering the real possibility that their party might lose the Senate. No longer.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">While much can change before November, Republicans have already begun to rethink their national strategy to take advantage of a political map that suddenly looks much more favorable in the wake of Maine Democrat Graham Platner&#8217;s latest controversy \u2014 an accusation of sexual assault that even his most loyal allies have described as credible. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Platner, who denies the allegation, is under intense pressure to quit the race. And the lineup of <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/maine-graham-platner-election-5ce04e85fc3f43a3faa90366dc3cd3a3\">potential replacements<\/a> has hardly inspired fear among the Republicans backing incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, who is seeking her sixth term this fall. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The incredible Democratic dysfunction transforms the Maine Senate race from perhaps Democrats&#8217; best pickup opportunity in the nation to one where dejected and divided Democrats don&#8217;t know who their nominee will be four months before Election Day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cObviously, expectations are that this certainly will be helpful overall,\u201d said Joanna Rodriguez of the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Without Maine, Rodriguez added, \u201cDemocrats have no path to a majority.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The math suggests she may be right.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Democrats need to flip four seats to claim the Senate majority for President Donald Trump&#8217;s final two years in office. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Maine stands alone as the only 2026 Senate battleground where a Republican is facing reelection in a state Democrat Kamala Harris carried in 2024. North Carolina, where Democrats have rallied behind popular former Gov. Roy Cooper, likely represents the party&#8217;s next best pickup opportunity, while Democrats are fighting to compete in the deeper-red states of Iowa, Alaska, Ohio and Texas. At the same time, Democrats are defending seats in Georgia, Michigan and New Hampshire.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">To claim the Senate majority without Maine, Democrats must win all the seats they current hold and four of five in states where Trump won by an average of more than 10 points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cI\u2019m convinced Republicans are holding the Senate,\u201d says New York-based Republican donor Eric Levine, who has hosted fundraising events for Collins and other vulnerable GOP senators. The situation in Maine, he continued, \u201cmakes it easier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">It&#8217;s hard to overstate how focused Republicans have been on protecting Collins, the last Republican senator serving in New England. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">So far this election cycle, Republicans have spent $108 million on her race \u2014 more than almost every other Senate race in the nation, but just behind Texas&#8217;s record-breaking Republican primary, according to data complied by AdImpact. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">And the GOP was planning to spend much more in Maine, according to Republican strategist Chris Hartline. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cRepublicans were in a situation where we were going to have to go all in on Maine,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">The Platner explosion does not mean that Maine suddenly becomes an easy Republican hold, Hartline noted, but it does give the national party some \u201cbreathing room\u201d to shift resources elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">On Wednesday, for example, the Republican super PAC One Nation announced plans to spend a combined $45 million in three Senate races: Ohio, Iowa and New Hampshire. The Maine contest was excluded from the super PAC&#8217;s Wednesday list, even though One Nation has already spent $23.5 million in the state, according to AdImpact. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Republicans are not planning to divert all of their money out of Maine in the short term, however.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Operating under the assumption that Platner quits the race in the coming days, Republicans are planning a negative ad blitz to undermine Collins&#8217; next opponent immediately. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cThe candidate we\u2019re running against is largely undefined,\u201d Rodriguez said. \u201cSo there will have to be spending and a campaign on behalf of Collins to be sure that that person is defined early.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Collins, meanwhile, who was already planning for a difficult reelection, was sitting on nearly $10 million in her campaign account near the end of May. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">\u201cFundraising continues on at a strong clip and we are heartened to see support from Mainers and Americans across the nation continue to grow,\u201d said Collins&#8217; campaign spokesperson Blake Kernen. \u201cOur cash position remains very strong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Maine Democratic Party officials are scrambling to complete a plan if and when Platner announces he\u2019ll withdraw.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Virtually all of his high-profile supporters this week called for Platner to step down, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who had stood by the oyster farmer even after revelations of <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/maine-platner-tattoo-election-4d3ca54926361449a16a770cce6082aa\">a tattoo<\/a> recognized as a Nazi symbol, <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/graham-platner-maine-wife-texts-senate-902a2d6fc58721e397de62693a0da136\">extramarital sexting<\/a> and controversial social media posts that would have wrecked a typical campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Everything changed this week when a former girlfriend told reporters that Platner drunkenly entered her house and sexually assaulted her in 2021, an allegation the candidate denied. <\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">According to Maine law, Platner would need to step aside voluntarily by 5 p.m. July 13 before any other contender can replace him. So far, Platner has only committed to pausing his campaign.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Should he quit the race, the law then says the Maine Democratic Party has the authority to choose a replacement, which must be done by July 27 \u2014 just 99 days before Election Day.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC eTIW sUzSN \">\u201cDemocrats have taken their No. 1 pickup opportunity and completely fumbled it,\u201d said Rodriguez, of the NRSC. \u201cThis is the strongest Susan Collins has ever been.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK &#8212; As Democrats scramble to contain a political disaster in Maine, the Republicans on the front lines of the GOP&#8217;s fight to hold the U.S. Senate majority are breathing a sigh of relief. For much of the year, Republican operatives have been quietly considering the real possibility that their party might lose the&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/70fa33ca-5122-43dd-ab42-b080f1714f33\/wirestory_0abe847799b9779d604425de03a914de_16x9.jpg?w=1600","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-political-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}