A poll released this week, in addition to showing a dead heat in the Maine Senate race, suggests that Democratic candidate Graham Platner’s working-class bona fides as an oyster farmer — which he has made a central part of his campaign — aren’t resonating.

Platner currently trails incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins by 21 points, 37% to 58%, with registered voters who do not hold a four-year college degree, according to a New York Times/Portland Press Herald/Siena poll released on Monday.  

Additionally, the poll shows Platner up 37 points with White college-educated voters but trailing Collins by 23 points with White non-college-educated voters. 

In the September 2020 New York Times/Siena poll, Collins led Democrat Sara Gideon by just 48%-45% with White non-college-educated voters, a 20-point swing from six years ago in a race Collins won by about nine points statewide.

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Platner’s sagging support from those without a college degree has prompted some on social media to suggest his messaging to working-class voters as an oyster farmer from rural Maine is falling flat, despite his repeated pledges to fight against «corporate greed» and the billionaire «oligarchy.»

Ryan Girdusky, founder of the 1776 Project PAC, posted on X that «Graham is what a college educated person thinks a working-class person is supposed to act like and working-class people can see he’s a fraud.»

«Blue collar voters can tell he’s not one of them,» journalist Melissa Braunstein posted on X.

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Platner has faced criticism during his campaign for claims about his background as he has long identified himself as an oyster farmer and harbor master, giving a blue-collar tinge to his left-wing campaign, at the same time financial disclosures show that he brings in relatively little money from oyster farming and reports have suggested that Platner receives the majority of his income through veteran’s disability payments, Fox News Digital previously reported.

In his pitch to working-class voters, Platner has also had to overcome his own wealthy background that resulted in him attending private schools, including The Hotchkiss School, an exclusive $75,000-a-year boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut.

«Mainers know authenticity, and they can spot a pretender from a mile away,» Maine Republican state Rep. Laurel Libby told Fox News Digital. «Maine voters aren’t looking for a performance, they’re looking for someone who understands their lives and will fight for them — that has always been Susan Collins.»

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Graham Platner addresses the crowd at his watch party after winning the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate at a YMCA in Blue Hill, Maine, on June 9, 2026. Platner will face Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the election for the seat. (Matthew Symons for Fox News Digital)

The various controversies surrounding Platner, including infidelity, physical abuse of an ex-girlfriend, a Nazi-linked tattoo, disparaging comments about the military and referring to himself as a «communist,» appear to have hurt him with voters, as only 44% said he has «good character» while 47% said he is «too extreme» for the state.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Platner campaign for comment. 

Still, despite the questions about his background and his controversial statements, Platner’s pitch to voters as a combat veteran who will push back against Trump and the establishment of both parties has helped him to a two-point lead over Collins, according to the New York Times poll, in a race that could decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate in November.

Fifty-four percent of respondents in the poll said they’d like to see the Democrats win back the Senate majority in the midterms, five points higher than the 49% who are supporting Platner. And Collins is capturing 10% of voters who prefer the Democrats control the Senate.

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Warning signs for Collins in the poll include a majority that said they thought the senator would be too supportive of Trump and even some of her own supporters worry that the 73-year-old Collins is too old to be an effective senator.

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.

Diferencias

Antecedentes

The Trump administration is moving forward with a controversial arms sale worth $700 million to NATO ally Turkey despite apprehension over Ankara’s closeness with Russia and terrorist groups in the Middle East.

Rep. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the administration notified him of the State Department’s decision to bypass Congress and send Turkey the $700 million in defense articles, mostly fighter jets.

«In this case, the State Department did not even attempt to justify its decision. It did not invoke any emergency authority, did not present a written rationale, and for months refused to make a good-faith effort to brief me on implications of the sale for the U.S.-Turkey relationship, Turkey’s continued possession of the Russian S-400 system, and other regional security concerns,» Rep. Meeks said in a statement shared with Fox News Digital.

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Turkey signed a deal with Moscow in 2017 to purchase the Russian S-400 air defense system and acquired it in 2019, causing alarm within the NATO alliance. The U.S. and NATO considered the move an intelligence threat that undermines NATO cohesion and readiness.

The S-400 is designed to detect, track, and exploit stealth aircraft like the F-35.

«Turkey’s possession of both the S-400 and the F-35 is so dangerous because the two systems operating in proximity or networking together could give Moscow valuable intelligence for shooting down F-35s flown by Americans and our allies,» according to a report from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

The U.S. sanctioned Turkey in 2019 for the purchase and excluded Ankara from the F-35 fighter jet program. Congress also passed a law banning Turkey from the F-35 program while it continues to possess the S-400 air system.

The State Department dismissed concerns about the U.S. arms sales and Turkey’s possession of Russian-made air defense systems.

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MUGLA, TURKIYE – JANUARY 12: A military helicopter takes part in the press stage of Turkiye’s military exercise Sea Wolf (Denizkurdu) in Mugla, Turkiye on January 12, 2024. The exercise, supervised by the Turkish navy, was conducted in the eastern Mediterranean, Aegean and Black Sea.  (Orhan Cicek/Anadolu via Getty Images)

«The President has been clear; Türkiye is a strong member of NATO. Türkiye is a significant contributor to Alliance operations and missions,» a State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital.

The package is a major boon for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as he prepares to host the 2026 NATO summit in Ankara.

«The US engine sale is critical for Turkey’s most important defense project, the KAAN fifth-generation fighter jet. Turkey is developing its own engine, but it won’t be ready for several more years. Without U.S.-made GE engines, KAAN would struggle to move from a prototype to a serially produced combat aircraft,» Gonul Tol, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Fox News Digital.

Tol, who’s in Ankara for the NATO summit, said the deal is more meaningful than just a defense sale for President Erdogan, it’s a cornerstone of his foreign policy and a major source of domestic political legitimacy.

President Donald Trump greets Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a summit to support ending the more than two-year Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal, Monday, Oct. 13, 2025, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.  (Evan Vucci AP Photo/ Pool)

«If the aircraft succeeds, Ankara believes it will not only expand Turkey’s defense exports but also strengthen NATO’s overall industrial capacity and reinforce Turkey’s strategic importance within the alliance,» Tol said.

President Erdogan, who has a warm relationship and receives frequent praise from President Trump, has continued to aggressively lobby the United States to readmit Turkey to the F-35 program, despite pushback from Congress.

On Monday, four Republican allies of President Trump — Reps. Jimmy Patronis, R-Fla., Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla., Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., and Nicole Malliotakis, R-NY., — released a joint statement over the proposed sales. «As Greek American Members of Congress, we are deeply concerned regarding reports of a proposed military sale of jet engines to Turkey. Turkey continues to be a destabilizing force in the region through its expansive and disputed maritime claims, continued illegal occupation of Cyprus, and rhetorical demonization of Israel.»

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The statement continued, «The Eastern Mediterranean region holds significant potential to become a beacon of commercial opportunity, energy cooperation, and regional security, an effort we have actively supported through legislation and engagement, but Turkey’s rhetoric and actions increasingly threaten these efforts, key American allies, and regional stability. For example, Turkey’s harboring of Hamas and position as the only NATO member to refuse sanctions against Russia is deeply troubling. We are actively engaging with the Administration and House leadership to obtain additional information regarding this reported sale and to express our strong opposition to any prospect of Turkey’s reintegration into the F-35 program without complete compliance with CAATSA requirements,» their statement said.

A spokesperson for the Turkish government did not reply to a request for comment.