Current Affairs Of Pakistan & World: The easy part’s over for Platner

The easy part’s over for Platner

Jun 09, 2026

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With help from Eli Okun, Ali Bianco and Irie Sentner

Happy primary Tuesday, it’s Adam. Voters are heading to the polls in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina today. We’ll be watching closely and get you all the latest intel. Get in touch.

In today’s Playbook …

— Previewing Susan Collins’ playbook against Graham Platner.

— Dan Sullivan calls the FEC on Dan Sullivan.

— The Boldfaces: Ro Khanna, James Talarico, Pamela Evette, Nancy Mace, Melania Trump, Ruben Gallego, JD Vance, Steve Hilton, Jaime Harrison and more.

DRIVING THE DAY

THE MAINE FRAME: Graham Platner appeared on track for a scrap in Maine’s Senate Democratic primary when the insurgent oyster farmer entered the race, with a series of scandals trailing behind. Then a glide path opened up.

That road will close shortly after polls do in Maine tonight, when he’ll almost certainly be crowned the nominee to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.

But the controversies that defined much of his campaign are here to stay as Platner faces fury in his own party and the Republican campaign juggernaut in what promises to be a buzzsaw of a general election matchup.

Playbook has a first look at what to expect from the Collins-aligned Pine Tree Results PAC’s next seven-figure general election ad buy, set to be rolled out later this week (they’ve spent roughly $4 million already).

The first one — “Read the Posts” features Maine voters reading Platner’s controversial Reddit posts. Platner says “cops are bastards — all of them,” a man wearing a State Police polo says. “Graham Platner has no respect for law enforcement.”

“I would never vote for Graham Platner,” a woman in her kitchen says.

“Graham Platner: Too Risky for Maine,” reads the final text of the ad over the now notorious video of Platner with his Totenkopf.

“He’s an awful person,” a woman in a kitchen says in a second ad resembling one Democratic Gov. Janet Mills deployed against Platner in the primary. A source familiar with Pine Tree Results’ strategy said the ads will air throughout the summer.

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But there’s at least one word Platner seems unwilling to write or say as it relates to the latest scandal: Sorry.

“I think he should apologize,” Rep. Ro Khanna told NBC (D-Calif.). “I believe what he did was wrong, was misogynistic, was toxic or volatile,” Khanna said. “I know he’s ashamed of it and I certainly think it would be appropriate to apologize and say how he now understands why it’s important to stand up to a misogynistic culture.”

We asked Platner’s campaign: Will he ultimately apologize to the women mentioned in the NYT story alleging “unsettling” behavior?

A Platner spokesperson pointed us to his previous statement: “Throughout this campaign, I’ve been open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, too often self medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend. I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better. “

Khanna said he believes Platner's former girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield.

Do Platner and his campaign? They’ve called her politically motivated.

Playbook asked Khanna yesterday what he made of Platner’s lack of an apology. He declined to comment.

Zooming out across the map, do national Democratic surrogates standing by Platner put themselves in dissonant territory should they, say, campaign with James Talarico in Texas — a campaign that Talarico has litigated on moral authority, and his opponent AG Ken Paxton’s lack thereof?

“His national validators say one thing to the national media and one thing to the local media,” Genevieve McDonald, Platner’s former political director told Playbook hours before her explosive op-ed in The Washington Post dropped last night.

McDonald told us she’s worried Platner, despite his friendly rally audiences, won’t survive the general.

“That is the part that people do not understand,” McDonald said. “We have a general election. That is a very different demographic.”

POLITICO’s Jessica Piper, in a new piece datelined from Portland this morning, finds a similar vibe on the ground.

Darcy Halvorsen, 59, already cast her ballot for Platner before she read news of sexual text messages he sent to a woman who wasn't his wife.

Halvorsen, who described herself as a Platner skeptic-turned-fan, is back to being a skeptic.

During a Platner town hall at the Elks Lodge in Portland on Sunday — at least her eighth Platner event since last fall — she expressed regret for the vote. “I’m feeling very let down, disappointed,” she told Jessica.. “Because I don’t think it was handled well. I don’t think he took responsibility for it.”

Kathy Bonk, a Brooksville resident and president of the Maine chapter of the National Organization of Women, plans to vote for Mills in today’s primary, though she expects Platner to prevail.

“There’s been a lot of press coverage about, ‘Well, we’ll let Maine voters decide.’ The Maine Democratic voters are going to decide the primary, but then you put that question to all Maine voters in the general,” she said. “I just think there’s a number of people that after everything that’s come out on Platner just can’t bring themselves to vote for Platner.”

One Democratic strategist working on several Senate races told us Platner is consuming too much oxygen.

“If Platner is ultimately the party’s nominee, you’re going to see a lot of Democrats start to write off Maine as a sinking ship and lost cause, which is a damn shame because Susan Collins should have been beatable,” this person said. “Democrats are starting to see Iowa and Texas as more viable places to invest their time and money.”

On today's Playbook Podcast: Dasha and Megan Messerly dig into whether Platner's controversies will derail him — plus, the latest test of Trump's influence in South Carolina.

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THE DOWNLOAD

TODAY’S MARQUEE GOP RACE: South Carolina’s stacked GOP gubernatorial primary is spinning to an unpredictable finish, Playbook’s Eli Okun writes. Trump-backed Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette is considered the frontrunner, but the crowded and competitive field means she’d probably head to a runoff. AG Alan Wilson, Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and businessman Rom Reddy all have a shot at joining her. The race’s unsettled final stretch marks another test of how determinative Trump’s endorsement is.

South Carolina Republicans are weighing not only Trump’s backing but infrastructure, tax and cost-of-living concerns that are top of mind in the country’s fastest-growing state. Affordability “has been the lane I have staked out from the beginning,” Wilson told Eli. Reddy surged late as an outsider whose personal wealth inures him from donor interests: “People are fed up,” he told Eli. “Essentially we have a political ruling class that’s run the state for many years … and what have they done?”

Then there’s Norman, a House Freedom Caucus stalwart with a longstanding conservative reputation, an Upstate base — and a 2024 Nikki Haley presidential endorsement hanging over his head. And Mace, one of Congress’ most prominent lightning rods, who told POLITICO’s Alec Hernández she doesn’t regret standing up to Trump on the Jeffrey Epstein files, no matter the career fallout.

Another good read: “Lindsey Graham is spending big to ward off an ‘America First’ primary challenge,” by Alec

PRIMARY DAY, CONT.: Don’t forget about Nevada and North Dakota. In Nevada, we’ll be monitoring how Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo fares against his six primary challengers, and which of six Democratic candidates come out on top to challenge him in November. We’ll also be watching for the outcome of the 25-candidate GOP primary to replace retiring Rep. Mark Amodei in the state’s only reliably Republican district — yet another test of Trump’s power.

ON THE HILL: A final House vote to pass Republicans’ immigration funding bill could come as soon as today. Meanwhile, Senate Appropriations Chair Susan Collins last night called off markups of government funding bills for the second week in a row, accusing Democrats of refusing to negotiate, per POLITICO’s Jennifer Scholtes.

MELANIA’S ROBOTS: First lady Melania Trump is hosting the Presidential AI Challenge National Champion Awards Ceremony at 11 a.m. at the White House, where she’ll honor six student national champion teams and about 120 finalists.

The event comes as Trump’s embrace of a potential financial partnership between the federal government and the AI industry divides Silicon Valley, POLITICO’s Cheyenne Haslett and colleagues report. An official with the first lady's office told Dasha that Melania’s AI work is the “carrot to the stick” of the administration's broader AI agenda, calling it “one of the largest initiatives that she's undertaken.”

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THE FRONT PAGE

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: The NRSC is asking the FEC to investigate GOP Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan’s same-name rival, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by POLITICO’s Lisa Kashinsky. The NRSC accused Dan J. Sullivan of a “coordinated scheme” with an operative who previously supported Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola to rig the Senate race in her favor — including by using a similar logo to the incumbent’s to “deceive” voters. The NRSC last week asked Alaska election officials to strike the other Sullivan from the ballot, and the incumbent has accused Democrats of attempting to “cheat.” Peltola, top Democratic campaign arms and the candidate himself denied involvement.

2028 WATCH: Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) will take part in the South Carolina Democratic Party's “On the Road” series on Juneteenth, Adam reports. Gallego will begin a swing in Greenville for breakfast and then head to Greenville’s Juneteenth Celebration at Unity Park and do meet-and-greets in Union and Greenwood counties. An aide said he’ll be the first national Democrat to visit Union County since 2019. He’ll also stop in Columbia.

BATTLE BORN STATE UPDATE: Nevada State Democratic Party Chair Daniele Monroe-Moreno is inviting members of the DNC Rules and Bylaws Committee — the people who will decide whether Nevada is an early 2028 state — to a reception with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) on Saturday ahead of the party’s state convention, Adam scoops. See the invite

TUNE IN TO POLITICO’S ENERGY SUMMIT: From rising energy costs to permitting reform to blowback over data centers, the forces shaping the nation’s energy policy are in constant motion. Check out POLITICO’s Energy Summit tomorrow in Washington, D.C., for news-driven conversations on the latest developments with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, National Energy Dominance Council Executive Director Jarrod Agen, FERC Chair Laura V. Swett, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair Ho K. Nieh, Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.), Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Meta’s Joel Kaplan.Register here to watch virtually

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5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. BREAKING OVERNIGHT: “A U.S. Army Apache helicopter gunship went down near the Strait of Hormuz on Monday, and the two crew members were safely rescued,” NYT’s Eric Schmitt, Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan reported. “It was not immediately clear whether the Apache was shot down by Iranian fire, experienced mechanical failure or encountered some other problem,” they noted.

How it’s playing: VP JD Vance vowed the war will end soon, telling USA Today’s Francesca Chambers in an interview he feels “extremely confident” we won’t be talking about it “even a year down the road, but certainly not years down the road.” Vance said “so long as we keep this thing anchored to the core mission — prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon — it's not going to become a quagmire.”

2. VETERANS RUN: More Democratic and women veterans are running for federal office this year than ever before — and the total number of veterans running for federal office in 2026 is up 47 percent from 2024, POLITICO’s Leo Shane III reports for Pros. That trend — alongside a partisan shift from most veteran candidates being Republican — comes as Democrats position themselves in opposition to Trump’s foreign policies.

3. SPEAKING OF NATIONAL SECURITY: The White House and Senate Democrats are at a stalemate over Trump’s pick for acting DNI, Bill Pulte, as Democrats threaten to allow FISA’s Section 702 to expire if the president doesn’t remove him from the role, POLITICO’s Jordain Carney and John Sakellariadis report. And while congressional Republicans are largely leaving it to the administration to figure out a path forward, they’re also nudging the White House to pick a different nominee. (Trump also formally nominated Todd Blanche for AG.)

4. POLL POSITION: Minnesota Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan leads Rep. Angie Craig by 17 percentage points in a GQR poll of the Minnesota Democratic Senate primary conducted for Flanagan’s campaign, with 7 percent undecided, Lisa writes in. Flanagan led by 13 points in the same survey in January. Read the full polling memo

5. CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’: Republican Steve Hilton is inching closer to taking the second slot in the California gubernatorial race, where he would join Democrat Xavier Becerra. (Decision Desk HQ last night projected Hilton will advance.) It would be a major misstep for Tom Steyer, who deployed a record-breaking flow of cash to prop up his bid. And in Los Angeles, Nithya Raman beat Spencer Pratt to advance to the general election against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, POLITICO’s Liam Dillon reports.

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TALK OF THE TOWN

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison is endorsing Kenyan McDuffie in next week’s D.C. Democratic mayoral primary, Playbook’s Eli Okun scoops. “DC needs a Mayor with the experience, backbone, and judgment to stand up for this city and move it forward,” Harrison said in a statement.

TRUMP’S FINALS RUN — Trump returned to NYC’s Madison Square Garden last night for the first time since his infamous campaign event in 2024 to watch the Knicks — and his hometown crowd greeted him with a round of boos. For all the furor over extra security impacting attendance, the crowd was largely in place as the game tipped off. MSG has an exclusive contract with Pepsi, but the president was seen drinking what appeared to be a Diet Coke, according to print pooler Jeff Mordock. More from WSJ

SPOTTED in the president’s suite: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, Steve Witkoff, Steven Cheung, Dan Scavino, Jim Dolan, Chris Dolan, Boris Epshteyn, Erin Scavino, Michael Boulos, Walt Nauta, Margo Martin, Natalie Harp, Adam Silver, Kai Trump and Vanessa Trump. … Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was seen sitting courtside … as was Rahm Emanuel. To round it all out, former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg got crashed into by New York’s Jose Alvarado during the fourth quarter.

VEEP FILES — “Vance adds a chicken coop to the vice president’s residence, along with a dozen baby chicks,” by AP’s Collin Binkley: “The coop was built without taxpayer money, according to a person familiar with the project who spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly. The residence hosted a family event over the weekend where local 4-H students taught other kids about the newly installed coup, the person said.”

ANIMAL INSTINCTS — Celebrating the “Experience New Hampshire” reception, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) will bring a giant stuffed moose and bear (Marty and Kodak, respectively) to travel around the halls of Congress today and tomorrow.

OUT AND ABOUT — World Without Exploitation held its annual conference last night honoring leaders in the anti-human trafficking and sexual exploitation movement. SPOTTED: Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez, Rachel Foster, Lauren Hersh, Danielle Bensky, Jess Michaels, Liz Stein, Annie Farmer, Sharlene Rochard, Marijke Chartouni, Sky Roberts, Amanda Roberts, Matthew Bergman, Aaron Parnas, Cristian Eduardo, Bethany Biesenthal and Maria Elisa Escobar.

WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Will Mascaro is now a special assistant to the president for legislative affairs. He most recently worked for the Republican Study Committee and is a Senate Steering Committee alum under Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah).

MEDIA MOVE — Em Luetkemeyer is now a reporter at Punchbowl, covering House Republicans. She previously worked at NOTUS.

TRANSITIONS — Kathleen Hoang is now CFO at the DNC. She previously worked for the Harris campaign and is a Biden White House alum. … André Béliveau is now senior adviser for federal policy and advocacy for Shell. He previously worked for Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas). … Ryan Tillman is joining S-3 Group as VP of strategic comms. He most recently worked for Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier.” … Paul Colangelo has been named CEO of Casepoint. He most recently founded and led Neumo.

BIRTHWEEK (was yesterday): CBO Director Phillip Swagel … A. Scott Bolden

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Democracy Forward’s Skye Perryman … Ray Salazar of Comcast … Joe Curl … Marvin Kalb … Margaret Talev … Liz Mair … Groundwork Collaborative’s Charisma Troiano … Yonathan Teclu of Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) office … DSCC’s Laura Matthews … Jess O’Connell of Newco Strategies … Jeff Solnet … Delve’s Jeff Berkowitz … Dante Atkins … Candi Wolff of Citi … Ramsen Shamon … Alexandra Toma … former Rep. Kendra Horn (D-Okla.) … Lori Lodes of Climate Power … Parker Butler … Daniel Rankin of Rep. Don Bacon’s (R-Neb.) office … Arkansas Lt. Gov. Leslie Rutledge … Aryele Bradford of Rep. Shomari Figures’ (D-Ala.) office … Zac Petkanas … Raj Goyle … Ken Adelman … Steve Schwab of the Elizabeth Dole Foundation

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