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Top takeaways from the primary elections in Maine and South Carolina: ‘Movement about us’
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BLUE HILL, Maine – Graham Platner, the progressive left, and Donald Trump appear to be the big winners in Tuesday’s high-profile primaries in Maine and South Carolina.
Platner, the oyster farmer and military combat veteran who has been facing plenty of incoming fire amid mounting controversies, cruised to the Democratic nomination Tuesday in left-leaning Maine and will now face longtime moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a key race that is among a handful which will likely determine if Republicans hold their Senate majority in the midterm elections.
Meanwhile, in solidly red South Carolina, Trump-backed Sen. Lindsey Graham won a majority of the vote in the Senate GOP primary and will avoid a runoff against a primary challenger from the right.
And the candidate the president endorsed in the state’s Republican gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, finished on top of a crowded field of contenders and will advance to a runoff election in two weeks against longtime South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, who came in second.
Here’s what we learned in the key June 9th primaries.
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Graham Platner and his wife wave on stage to supporters after winning the Democratic Senate primary in Maine, on June 9, 2026 in Blue Hill, Maine (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
The left storms back
The convincing victory by Platner, who was backed by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, looks to be another feather in the cap for the left in their intra-party face-off with the establishment.
The primary in Maine was held a week after Iowa state Rep. John Turek, who was supported by longtime Senate Democratic Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, won the Democratic Senate primary and will face Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson in another crucial midterm showdown.
Turek, a wheelchair basketball player who won two Paralympic gold medals, defeated the more progressive candidate, state Sen. Zach Wahls. The divisive and expensive primary battle was viewed as a proxy war between the establishment and anti-establishment wings of the party.
Fast-forward a week and the ballot box performance by Platner, who promotes an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class, gives a boost to the left.
«The Democratic establishment and powerful interests spent months trying to stop Graham Platner. Instead, they demonstrated that voters in Maine and across America want to elect shake-up-the-system outsiders,» Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green emphasized.
And Green warned that Platner’s victory «should be a wake-up call for a Democratic establishment that has spent too long underestimating the appeal of economic populism and outsider politics.»
EMBATTLED PLATNER WINS DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY TO TEE UP CRUCIAL MIDTERM SHOWDOWN
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner stand together during a «Fighting Oligarchy» tour stop at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono, Maine, on May 24, 2026. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
What controversies?
Platner in recent weeks has been facing one of the roughest stretches of his bid for the U.S. Senate.
The candidate has been playing defense the past month, amid multiple controversies. They include inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married, and new allegations last week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes. Platner has called the latest allegations of violence untrue.
On Monday, a day before the primary election, a former high-level staffer from the Platner campaign wrote in the Washington Post that Platner «is not someone who would be good for Maine or for the country.»
While the mounting controversies triggered some Democrats in the nation’s capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods and needed to be replaced, the candidate this past weekend thanked Maine voters for continuing to support him.
«When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth. Maine had my back,» Platner said at a rally Friday not far from his hometown in Down East Maine. «Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back. And when politically motivated, serious and false accusations are made against me. Maine, you have my back.»
THE GROWING LIST OF CONTROVERSIES THREATENING DEMOCRAT GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID
Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner and his wife greet supporters after he won his party’s nomination, at his victory celebration in Blue Hill, Maine on June 9, 2026. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
And voters in Maine’s Democratic Senate primary seemed to shrug off the controversies.
«In trying so hard to understand me, they failed to understand that this is not about me at all,» Platner said in his victory speech as he dismissed news reports about his past misdeeds as immaterial to the Senate election.
«This is a movement about us, about the far too many working far too hard and struggling far too much.»
Trump has a big night
The president wasn’t on the ballot in South Carolina, but he had plenty on the line in the GOP Senate and gubernatorial primaries.
One week after Trump’s endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president’s immense clout over the GOP was on the line again, this time in South Carolina.
And the president easily passed the test.
The candidate Trump endorsed in the Palmetto State’s GOP gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, finished first in a crowded field of candidates and clinched one of the two tickets in the race for the nomination.
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Evette, who repeatedly spotlighted Trump’s support, now advances to a Republican runoff election in two weeks against South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, the second place finisher, in the race to succeed term-limited GOP Gov. Henry McMaster.
South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, and Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette stand on stage during an election night watch party at the State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 24, 2024. Trump defeated Nikki Haley in the South Carolina Republican primary. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Since no candidate topped 50% of the primary vote to land a majority, Evette and Wilson will battle for the nomination in the June 23 runoff, and the winner will be considered the clear favorite in the general election in the solidly red southeastern state.
Meanwhile, in the South Carolina GOP Senate primary, longtime Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham did win a majority of the vote, and will avoid a runoff, the Associated Press reported.
Graham, who was endorsed by Trump, was facing primary challenges from five candidates, including conservative businessman Mark Lynch, who took aim at the senator over his support for the war in Iran. Lynch was backed by some MAGA leaders who have been critical of the president.
Graham’s campaign and allied political groups spent nearly $20 million to highlight Trump’s support. And the president joined Graham and Evette for a primary eve tele-rally.
The brute force of the president’s endorsement power has been on display in GOP primaries over the past month, with his candidates ousting incumbents he targeted in showdowns in Indiana, Louisiana, Kentucky and Texas that grabbed plenty of national attention.
But his 11th-hour endorsement of Republican Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa a week and a half ago — which came on the same day he also backed Evette — in the race to succeed retiring GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds wasn’t enough to muscle the three-term congressman to victory.
Feenstra was narrowly edged by Zach Lahn, a businessman, farmer and former political strategist who was backed by the political wings of MAHA — the acronym for the Make America Healthy Again movement aligned with Trump Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and Turning Point USA, the powerful conservative organization co-founded by the late Charlie Kirk.
In the South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary, the major contenders had long been highlighting their support for Trump and his agenda, in hopes of landing his support.
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Trump, after staying neutral for months, endorsed Evette, praising her as an «America First Patriot» and a «WINNER» in his announcement.
In her primary night speech, Evette thanks the president and touted that she’s a «Trump-endorsed businesswoman and conservative who’s going to take the fight to the radical left.»
lindsey graham, democrats elections, graham platner, governors, republicans elections, donald trump, midterm elections
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The Trump administration on Friday released its fourth tranche of declassified unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) records, including newly released military infrared videos and additional details about a 2015 unidentified object reported near the nation’s primary nuclear weapons assembly facility.
Officials said the latest release is part of the administration’s effort to expand public access to UAP records while protecting information that could reveal sensitive military capabilities, eyewitness identities or national security operations.
Among the newly released files is an 18-second infrared video submitted by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in 2025 showing an object officials described as resembling a six-pointed star.
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An infrared image released by the Department of War shows an object described by officials as resembling a six-pointed star during a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command mission over the Yellow Sea on Jan. 1, 2025. (Department of War)
The footage, captured by an infrared sensor aboard a U.S. military platform over the Yellow Sea, shows the sensor tracking what the government described as an «area of contrast» while cautioning that the video’s description should not be interpreted as an official conclusion about the object’s identity or significance.
The latest release also includes a newly declassified Department of Energy report detailing a 2015 incident involving an unidentified object over the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas, the nation’s primary facility for assembling, maintaining and dismantling nuclear weapons. Portions of the report had previously been released in a more heavily redacted form, but Friday’s tranche includes additional details and imagery.
The release also includes a 1-minute, 46-second infrared video submitted by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in 2024 that shows a military sensor tracking an elongated area of contrast. As the sensor zooms in, the object appears as a line of several points moving across the field of view before becoming less distinct as it recedes into the distance. Officials cautioned that the video’s description should not be interpreted as an official conclusion about the object’s identity or significance.
Another newly released Navy «Range Fouler Debrief» — a standardized report used to document unauthorized intrusions into military training airspace — describes a military operator observing a «quite small» object with a metallic appearance and reflective underside that continued traveling in a constant direction. The report cautions that the descriptions reflect the observer’s impressions at the time and are not definitive assessments of the object’s characteristics.
A screenshot of video footage from an alleged unidentified anomalous phenomenon (UAP) sighting in the northeastern United States in July 2025, which was detailed in files released by the DOW and originally obtained by the FBI. (DOW/FBI)
PENTAGON FILES REVEAL AGENTS’ REPORTS OF ‘ORBS LAUNCHING ORBS’ NEAR SENSITIVE US SECURITY SITE
The release also features additional infrared videos submitted by U.S. Central Command, the Air Force and Indo-Pacific Command. One 2024 video shows what appears to be an elongated area of contrast that later resembles a line of multiple bright points as the military sensor tracks it. Another 2023 video captures two areas of contrast crossing the sensor’s field of view in opposite directions.
In at least one case, AARO included technical context alongside the footage, noting that apparent flickering in a 2019 Air Force infrared video could result from the sensor’s automatic contrast adjustments when tracking an object whose temperature closely matched its background.
An artist’s rendering released by the U.S. Department of War depicting a 2023 sighting of «orbs launching other orbs» near a national security site in the western United States. (Department of War)
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Congress established AARO in 2022 to investigate reports of unidentified objects across air, sea, space and other domains, with a focus on determining whether incidents could pose flight safety or national security risks. The office is tasked with assessing whether sightings can be attributed to foreign adversaries, classified U.S. programs or conventional explanations before labeling them unresolved.
The latest release is the fourth tranche in a series that is part of President Donald Trump’s directive to expand public access to UAP records, adding that redactions were limited to protecting eyewitness identities, sensitive military locations and unrelated government facilities.
ufos, national security, pentagon defense, us navy
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Un asalto en altamar dejó a 27 pescadores ecuatorianos a la deriva: fueron hallados con vida tras horas de incertidumbre
Durante varias horas, 27 pescadores artesanales navegaron a la deriva frente a la costa ecuatoriana sin motores, sin equipos de comunicación y sin posibilidad de pedir ayuda. Lo que comenzó como una jornada habitual de pesca frente a Manabí terminó convirtiéndose en un operativo de búsqueda que movilizó a las autoridades marítimas y mantuvo en vilo a decenas de familias. El desenlace llegó cuando todos fueron encontrados con vida en la comuna La Entrada, en la provincia de Santa Elena, después de sobrevivir, según sus primeros testimonios, a un violento asalto en alta mar.
Los pescadores habían salido desde comunidades pesqueras del cantón Manta, principalmente de los sectores de Santa Rosa y Las Piñas, en la parroquia San Lorenzo, para cumplir una faena de pesca artesanal. Con el paso de las horas dejaron de comunicarse y no regresaron al puerto en el tiempo previsto, por lo que sus familiares alertaron a la Capitanía del Puerto sobre su desaparición.
La denuncia dio paso a un operativo de búsqueda en aguas del litoral ecuatoriano. Durante las primeras inspecciones fueron localizadas varias embarcaciones flotando sin sus motores fuera de borda, un hallazgo que llevó a las autoridades y a los propios pescadores de la zona a sospechar que la flotilla había sido víctima de un ataque de piratas del mar, una modalidad delictiva que ha ganado presencia en la costa del país.
Mientras avanzaba la búsqueda, la incertidumbre crecía entre las familias. La noticia cambió cuando comenzó a circular un video enviado desde Santa Elena en el que aparecían varios de los pescadores confirmando que estaban con vida. Poco después, las autoridades verificaron la información y confirmaron que los 27 hombres habían logrado llegar a la comuna La Entrada, ubicada en el límite entre Santa Elena y Manabí.
De acuerdo con las versiones preliminares entregadas por los sobrevivientes, la flotilla fue interceptada por hombres armados mientras realizaba labores de pesca. Los atacantes les habrían robado los motores fuera de borda, los equipos de comunicación, combustible y otras pertenencias de valor antes de abandonar las embarcaciones en mar abierto.
Sin los motores, los pescadores quedaron completamente expuestos a las corrientes marinas. Incapaces de maniobrar o de solicitar auxilio por radio, permanecieron durante horas desplazándose sin control hasta conseguir acercarse a la costa de Santa Elena, donde finalmente recibieron ayuda y pudieron contactar a sus familiares.
En las horas posteriores al hallazgo circularon versiones no confirmadas sobre la existencia de otros pescadores desaparecidos e incluso sobre un posible fallecimiento. Sin embargo, hasta el 10 de julio las autoridades únicamente habían confirmado que los 27 trabajadores del mar cuya desaparición había sido denunciada fueron encontrados con vida. Las investigaciones continúan para esclarecer los hechos y verificar la información que comenzó a difundirse durante la emergencia.
El caso volvió a poner de relieve la vulnerabilidad de la pesca artesanal frente al incremento de los ataques de delincuentes que operan en aguas ecuatorianas. En los últimos años, pescadores de Manabí, Santa Elena, Esmeraldas y otras provincias costeras han denunciado un aumento de los robos en altamar, principalmente dirigidos al hurto de motores fuera de borda, cuyo elevado valor en el mercado ilegal los convierte en uno de los principales objetivos de estas organizaciones.
Para los pescadores, la pérdida del motor no solo representa un golpe económico que puede impedirles volver a trabajar durante semanas o meses. También constituye un riesgo inmediato para la vida, ya que una embarcación inmovilizada queda a merced del viento, las corrientes y las condiciones del océano, especialmente cuando la tripulación pierde además los equipos de navegación y comunicación.
Las autoridades marítimas y los organismos de seguridad mantienen abiertas las investigaciones para identificar a los responsables del asalto denunciado por los sobrevivientes y establecer cómo operó el grupo que interceptó a la flotilla. Los testimonios de los pescadores serán incorporados a las diligencias para reconstruir la secuencia del ataque y determinar si este caso guarda relación con otros episodios similares registrados en la costa ecuatoriana durante los últimos meses.
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