By Aaron Zitner and Eliza Collins

SACO, Maine -- Democrats eager to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine say she carries a vulnerability that could damage her standing with women: her vote to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.

But Graham Platner's victory in the Democratic primary for Senate on Tuesday has created a dilemma. His nomination leaves many women -- those who oppose Collins's Kavanaugh vote and the court's 2022 decision overturning federal abortion rights -- deeply conflicted over disclosures regarding Platner's personal history and past comments about women.

"This is a very painful choice for a lot of women," said Brenda Garrand, 68 years old, of Rockland, who said she had voted for Collins in four of the senator's five successful elections.

"One choice is to vote for somebody who I simply don't think has the experience, the character or even the political orientation that I find valuable," she said, referring to Platner. But Collins's vote for Kavanaugh "was disappointing, and it has been devastating for women."

With speculation widespread that a current justice could retire, Garrand said, re-electing Collins could give her the opportunity to vote on another high-court nomination by President Trump.

Rachel Osborne, 50, an independent voter from the midcoast town of Owls Head, said she couldn't vote for Collins, because her Supreme Court vote "really tanked us." At the same time, she said, "I'm having a hard time voting for Graham Platner." Osborne said she worried that Platner's controversial past had made it harder to defeat Collins.

Platner, who convincingly won the Democratic nomination on Tuesday to challenge the Republican senator, has excited his party's voters with a call to break up corporate power and tax the wealthy to provide more healthcare and other government services. But a series of disclosures about his personal history has complicated his path, particularly in a state where women tend to determine the outcome.

Platner's campaign recently acknowledged that the candidate's wife discovered sexually explicit texts with several women on his phone in the spring of last year, and a woman who dated him just over a decade ago, Lyndsey Fifield, accused him of abuse. The New York Times, which first published her accusation, quoted her as saying he had grabbed her in ways that hurt but never caused injury. A cache of online posts by Platner included a comment that women "take some responsibility" for avoiding sexual assault by not getting drunk.

Platner has said the online comments and his relations with Fifield came during a difficult period when he was struggling after returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. He has said he had been a poor romantic partner at times but that "any characterization beyond that is false."

Some women say they find the disclosures disquieting. "I don't trust him. I don't trust his values," said Cheryl Koscak, 65, of Old Orchard Beach. She said she would likely support Collins again, despite describing herself as angry when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Koscak said she would have been open to supporting someone other than Collins but can't bring herself to back Platner.

Other voters see Platner's past as irrelevant, or accept his statement that he is a changed man. "Given his background, his time in the Marines, his PTSD, I can see him as a flawed candidate," said Jean Bourg, 80, of Unity, referring to the post-traumatic stress disorder that Planter says he suffered after combat duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. "I'm not saying he's perfect, but I generally vote on policy," she said.

Women, particularly older women, are considered the key swing voting bloc that decides elections in Maine. In Collins's previous race, in 2020, women backed Democrat Joe Biden for president by 13 percentage points but also Collins over her Democratic challenger by 5 points, a survey by AP VoteCast found. Women ages 45 and older were even more likely to cross parties, backing Biden by 15 points and Collins by 7 points.

"Those cross-pressured women are the whole ball game," said Amy Walter, editor of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. In 2020 and 2024, the AP survey found that about 70% of Maine women believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

Walter said the Kavanaugh vote could challenge Collins's efforts to portray herself as a moderate who works with both parties, as well as a supporter of abortion rights. Democrats will encourage voters to ask: "Is Susan Collins who she says she is, and what does it mean to have an independent voice in Washington if that person didn't stand up at the most critical time for women in the state?" Walter said.

Collins's decision was considered pivotal in the 50-48 vote that confirmed Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018, even though a "no" vote would have thrown the decision to the Republican vice president, assuring confirmation. Still, the vote carried political resonance: Collins had cast herself as a supporter of abortion rights, and the confirmation fight was contentious, because of an accusation, which Kavanaugh denied, that as a teenager he had sexually assaulted another teenager.

In backing Kavanaugh, Collins said she found no corroborating evidence to the assault charge and that Kavanaugh had said he believed precedent was important in court decisions, a suggestion that he would respect Roe v. Wade as settled law.

Collins said after his vote to overturn federal abortion rights that she felt "misled" by him, and she later introduced legislation that would have codified Roe v. Wade into law.

In a written statement, Collins campaign spokesman Shawn Roderick said Collins had a "long, pro-choice record."

"The overturning of Roe v. Wade, I lay that at her feet," said Lynn Bromley, a former Maine state senator, referring to Collins. But Bromley said she can't support Platner as an alternative and would write in a different name on the November ballot.

"I'm a Democrat, so I want Democrats to win," said Bromley. "But I also care how we win. And our argument can't be that character only matters when it's candidates from the other party."

Platner supports abortion rights but hadn't made Collins's vote a central focus of his campaign. Rather, he has accused Collins of being part of an uncaring political system that has created "monopolistic consolidation" of healthcare companies and allowed pharmaceutical companies to charge high prices.

In his victory speech on Tuesday night, however, he drew attention to Collins's vote for Kavanaugh. "She got elected promising to protect Roe versus Wade, only to turn around and put a justice on the Supreme Court who overturned it. She lied to us," he said.

Roderick, the Collins spokesman, said the Platner campaign believed that "repackaging old attacks that were litigated in 2020 will distract from the complete dumpster fire happening on their side of the street. They're wrong."

Write to Eliza Collins at eliza.collins@wsj.com and Aaron Zitner at aaron.zitner@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 10, 2026 19:00 ET (23:00 GMT)

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