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Scandal-plagued Platner captures Democratic Senate nomination
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BLUE HILL, Maine — He’s been facing one of the roughest stretches of his bid for the U.S. Senate, but Graham Platner on Tuesday captured the Democratic Party’s Senate nomination.
Platner, a military combat veteran and oyster farmer who is backed by progressive champions Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Rep. Ro Khanna of California, defeated two longshot rivals in Maine’s Democratic Senate primary, the Associated Press reports.
The embattled Platner, who is facing numerous controversies, will now challenge moderate Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who was unopposed for the GOP nomination, in left-leaning Maine in this year’s midterm elections. The race is one of a handful across the country that will determine whether the GOP keeps control of its slim Senate majority.
Platner, who advocates an economically populist agenda as he takes aim at corporate influences and advocates for the working class, also topped two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in the primary. The governor’s name remained on the ballot even though Mills, who had been backed by longtime Democratic Senate Leader Sen. Chuck Schumer and the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, suspended her bid earlier this spring after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.
THE TEN RACES THAT WILL DETERMINE THE SENATE’S MAJORITY
Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine. (Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo)
«We’re going to win in November and we’re going to take power back for the people in this country,» Platner predicted Sunday night, at his final rally ahead of the primary.
Platner 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 Planter 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, 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.»
PLATNER TO SUPPORTERS: ‘MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK’
Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to supporters at a rally in Bar Harbor, Maine, on June 5, 2026 (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Platner, who has acknowledged his battle with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from his three tours of duty in the war in Iraq with the Marines and one tour with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after some of them made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.
And Platner has said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol. But new allegations from an ex-girlfriend raise questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.
Khanna, who organized Friday’s rally with Platner, was asked by Fox News Digital whether he’s concerned if the current allegations, and any potential future ones, could sink Platner’s campaign and hurt Democrats’ hopes of winning back the Senate.
«I’m more concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that,» Khanna said. «I talked to Graham and he says he was at a very dark period, he had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantryman seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it.»
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But Khanna added that Platner said «he really grew as a person when he came back to Maine and he was an oyster farmer and he found peace and he is ashamed of that period. To me that suggests someone taking accountability and improving their lives and we need that redemption in this country. And I agree with a lot of his economic policies, that we should be taxing the billionaires, we should be focusing on the working class.»
Maine voters Fox News reporters spoke with ahead of the rally were divided on whether Platner’s controversies would impact their opinions of the candidate.
Jeff from Waterboro, Maine said «it’s not a good situation» as he pointed to Platner. «I think it’s somebody who shouldn’t be in the mix. I am a conservative, but he’s just got so much damage, if the Democrats want to have a winner, they’re going to have to find somebody else. He’s not the guy. It’s just too much.»
Ellen from Acton, Maine, who said she is a registered Republican, said, «Is he a perfect person? Heck no.»
But she added, «I think he will go in and do a good job.»
Collins, returning to Maine on Friday after a busy week on Capitol Hill where she reached a milestone by casting her 10,000th consecutive vote in the Senate, was asked by reporters about the latest allegations facing Platner.
«The allegations in the latest story are troubling,» Collins responded. «And I believe that Graham Platner has a lot of questions to answer.»
SEE IT: DEM SENATORS DODGE ON BACKING PLATNER AS MAINE CANDIDATE’S SCANDAL CLOUDS FINAL DAYS BEFORE PRIMARY
Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine tours a food bank in Harrison, Maine, on May 5, 2026. The food bank was able to expand thanks to federal funding that the senator helped obtain. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)
Platner is facing plenty of incoming political fire from Republican groups. A super PAC aligned with Collins has been blasting Platner, running ads spotlighting his multiple controversies.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) charged that Platner is a «fraud.»
«He’s preaching about living a small but decent life growing up in Maine. The truth? Graham Platner is an elitist whose parents sent him to boarding school in Connecticut and bought him a house,» the NRSC wrote.
And the Republican National Committee (RNC) also targeted Platner.
«Graham Platner says his violent and erratic past is being ‘weaponized’ against him. Platner said he would rape someone to show his dominance and ‘rape was about power,’» the RNC research team wrote on X, pointing to the latest allegations against the candidate.
Despite the allegations and the incoming fire from the GOP, no Democratic politicians who have backed Platner have rescinded their endorsements.
«We need to unite and realize that the goal is defeating Susan Collins. And everyone from Schumer to Sanders is unified around that goal,» Khanna told Fox News Digital.
Platner has drawn large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest, and Democrats see Maine as a crucial pickup opportunity as they aim to win back the Senate majority.
But beating Collins won’t be easy. Six years ago, public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by topping then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.
Collins, a moderate Republican who at times votes against President Donald Trump’s agenda, is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate.
The senator voted to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial, in 2021 soon after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. And early last year she opposed the confirmation of now-Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
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But she is also remembered for her 2018 vote to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, which eventually helped the court’s conservative majority overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade ruling which had legalized abortion nationwide.
democrats elections, graham platner, republicans, senate elections, midterm elections, maine, campaigning
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Complicado en las encuestas, Donald Trump toma una polémica medida con vistas a las legislativas de noviembre
Donald Trump destituyó sorpresivamente a los tres miembros que aún integraban la Election Assistance Commission, el organismo bipartidista encargado de asistir a los estados y condados en la organización de las elecciones federales. Un dato polémico con vistas a las elecciones legislativas de noviembre que se anticipan complicadas para el oficialismo.
El mandatario removió a los dos comisionados demócratas y permitió la renuncia del único republicano que permanecía en funciones, dejando al organismo sin quórum y, por lo tanto, sin capacidad para adoptar decisiones formales de cara a esos comicios de mitad de mandato. La medida fue interpretada por críticos y expertos como un intento de reforzar el control del Ejecutivo sobre el sistema electoral antes de los comicios.
El senador demócrata Mark Warner afirmó en una publicación en redes sociales que las destituciones deberían “preocupar a todos los estadounidenses, independientemente de su partido”.
“Destituir a todos los comisionados restantes a pocos meses de las elecciones de mitad de mandato de 2026 es una medida extraordinaria que exige una explicación inmediata de la administración y genera profundas preocupaciones sobre la interferencia política en las instituciones que sustentan nuestras elecciones”, declaró Warner.
Los tres comisionados restantes de la comisión bipartidista de cuatro miembros fueron destituidos el jueves de diferentes maneras. Mientas el comisionado republicano renunciaba, los otros dos, del Partido Demócrata, fueron despedidos mediante un correo electrónico de la Oficina de Personal Presidencial de la Casa Blanca. El cuarto comisionado había dejado la comisión en abril.
Las destituciones se producen tras la reciente decisión de la Corte Suprema que otorgó al presidente mayor poder para derribar a miembros de agencias independientes, y en el contexto de la presión ejercida por Trump para que haya una mayor intervención federal en los procesos electorales, tradicionalmente competencia de los estados.
“En nombre del presidente Donald J. Trump, le escribo para informarle que su cargo como Comisionado de la Comisión de Asistencia Electoral queda rescindido con efecto inmediato. Gracias por sus servicios”, decía el correo electrónico, al que tuvo acceso Reuters.
“El Presidente, y jefe del Poder Ejecutivo, se reserva el derecho de destituir a las personas que no estén totalmente alineadas con la importante tarea de garantizar la seguridad de las elecciones estadounidenses y asegurar que se cuente cada voto legal”, declaró un funcionario de la Casa Blanca, citando la decisión de la Corte Suprema como precedente.
La medida generó polémica en medio de temores y sospechas de eventuales manipulaciones en las elecciones legislativas con el antecedente de que Trump ha denunciado un fraude inexistente cuando perdió la reelección frente al demócrata Joe Biden.
El funcionario explicó que la administración Trump ha estado “trabajando con todas las agencias y socios locales para proteger las elecciones contra el fraude y el abuso, e invirtiendo en una sólida infraestructura para respaldar esa misión, especialmente en las elecciones de mitad de mandato”. El magnate insiste en que debe prohibirse el voto por correo, que él mismo ha utilizado, anticipando que habrá denuncias en esos comicios.
La Comisión de Asistencia Electoral funciona como un centro nacional de información sobre la administración electoral, acredita laboratorios de pruebas, certifica sistemas de votación y mantiene el formulario nacional de registro de votantes por correo, desarrollado por la Ley Nacional de Registro de Votantes de 1993, según su sitio web.
Los despidos se producen tras la presión ejercida por Trump para modificar los requisitos del voto por correo antes de las elecciones de mitad de mandato, como las investigaciones sobre el resultado de las presidenciales de 2020, Según las encuestas el oficialismo ha perdidos apoyos claves entre los electores.
La comisión electoral fue establecida por el Congreso en 2002 mediante la Ley de Ayuda a la Votación en Estados Unidos. Los cuatro comisionados son nombrados por el presidente, deben ser dos demócratas y dos republicanos, y su nombramiento debe ser confirmado por el Senado de Estados Unidos.
Los tres comisionados restantes que fueron destituidos, Thomas Hicks, Benjamin Hovland y Christy McCormick, fueron confirmados por unanimidad por el Senado.
La ley de 2002 establece que el presidente puede nombrar reemplazos para la comisión, pero no está claro cómo procederá Trump con la comisión.
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Kelley Paul is no stranger to the American political scene. As the wife of Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and the daughter-in-law of longtime former Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas), she has seen her fair share of the campaign trail, emerging as a powerful surrogate during her husband’s 2016 presidential run.
She is also an accomplished writer, speaker, and public relations professional. As America ushers in its 250th anniversary, Paul saw the perfect opportunity to branch out into the world of children’s literature. Recently she sat down with Fox News Digital in Las Vegas at Freedom Fest to discuss her new book, «Good Night, Young American.»
Kelley Paul is the wife of Sen. Rand Paul and author of two books. (Courtesy Kelley Paul)
Paul credits her family for giving her the inspiration for the new project:
«I have to give a lot of credit to my daughter-in-law, Kate. She and our son were over for dinner last summer with our grandson, who was only six months old at the time. And Kate was like, you know, we need more patriotic books for babies. She wasn’t really happy with a lot of the book options she was seeing. And that night at dinner, we kind of played around with some ideas. And I came up with ‘Good Night Young American.’ And a year later, here it is.»
EXCLUSIVE: RAND AND KELLEY PAUL OPEN UP ABOUT 2016 RACE
«Good Night, Young American,» recommended for children ages 4–8, takes kids on a visually and thematically engaging journey through early and colonial history.
«Well, our revolutionary history is such a great adventure, right? So when I came up with the concept that my little boy would start out on the 4th of July with his parents, asking, what is it all about? I knew we’d be celebrating the 250th. Kids ask, what are we really celebrating?
And his dad describes the Declaration of Independence to him in the signing. So I tried to think what is going to appeal to children in this great adventure of our revolution. So when he falls asleep that night, he’s in the crow’s nest of the Mayflower. He is a pilgrim, he’s a colonist, and then he makes friends with all the great revolutionary heroes that we know. So he makes friends with Sam Adams, he joins the Sons of Liberty, he meets at the Green Dragon. This is so exciting for children, right?
It’s visual stuff. He makes friends with Ben Franklin, and he’s flying the kite. Dramatically rides on the midnight ride with Paul Revere. He and his dog, his little dog, are with him for all the adventures. And of course, he crosses the Delaware with George Washington. And I wanted to make the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the writing of it something that was dynamic and exciting visually. So I have him swinging on the Liberty Bell when the declaration is signed.»
Paul worked closely with the illustrator, Marika Monesi, to bring the events of America’s founding to life in an engaging and visually appealing way for children.
The Liberty Bell, originally saved from the British by Lynnport farmer Frederick Leaser, sits in its Philadelphia shrine. (iStock)
«She really captured the excitement on the little boy’s face, his personality, but I worked very close with her,» Paul said. «I wanted there to be a lot of movement, a lot of dynamic images. So, for example, with the Liberty Bell, for kids, a bunch of men standing around writing a document…I wanted to bring it to life. So I said, let’s have him running up to the top of the bell tower in Philadelphia at Freedom Hall and swinging on the Liberty Bell. And she was just such a great artist. With the George Washington scenes, he’s crossing the Delaware because that, again, is so visual. I wanted drive home to children the incredible bravery and courage of our founders, how cold and miserable and hard that war was.
«Also, I love the illustration that she did of the King of England reading the Declaration of Independence. I have to give my husband Rand a little credit there. On the first couple of drafts that she did, Rand was like, ‘He needs to be fatter. King George was famously fat!’ So it was a lot of fun. It was very collaborative.»
KELLEY PAUL ‘EXHAUSTED AND ANGRY’ THAT THOSE WHO HARASSED HER AND HER HUSBAND FACE NO CHARGES
Part of Paul’s motivation for the book was related to the teaching of American history today, and the controversies therein:
«I do think that we’ve gotten away from really celebrating our founders and our heroes. What they were doing in 1776 was incredibly radical, if you think about it. At that time, everyone accepted the divine right of kings. Everyone accepted hereditary rule. And our founders took Enlightenment ideas from John Locke and philosophers, and they turned it into the framework for a government. The idea of self-government and that our rights come from our Creator, that we have inalienable rights that are given to us by God and not from a king. Those were radical ideas of the time.
Historians say an early draft of the Declaration of Independence offered new insight into how Thomas Jefferson refined the nation’s founding document. (Stock Montage/Stock Montage/Getty Images)
I like to say our founders were the first civil rights heroes, the first civil libertarians. And I think our education system has gotten away from that. They don’t view them in the time that they existed, and suddenly now everything is oppressor versus oppressed narrative. And they are labeled more like colonizers or enslavers, and that’s the only view that they’re looked at, and not as human beings who sacrificed their very lives to write the Declaration of Independence, to form this country…it was an incredible, bold, and courageous act, but it was also an act of moral courage and philosophical courage.»
Ultimately, Paul hopes that her books will stimulate the natural curiosity of America’s youth to learn more about their rich history:
Participants carry the City of Cumberland’s «America 250» parade banner down Baltimore Street during the America 250 parade in downtown Cumberland, Maryland, on June 27, 2026. Spectators line both sides of the street as American and Maryland flags lead the procession. (Fox News Digital/ David Marcus)
«Well, I hope that my books, especially with America’s 250, will spark a lot of questions and that they will give a framework for parents to talk to their kids about the founding of this country. And I hope children from a very, very young age will come away with this idea that they are a part of America’s story, that they as Americans can take pride in the heroism of our revolutionary founders. That as Americans, this is all of our story. So that’s really my goal with the books.»
One of the biggest challenges Paul faced was taking big ideas that may be hard for a four or five-year-old to grasp, like the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution, and distilling them down into an accessible format for kids:
«Well, I try to use language that kids could understand, and very much use simple terms. But if you think about it, it is simple. Our rights come from God. And when he makes friends with Thomas Jefferson, he says, Thomas Jefferson has written this amazing document that says that we can all be free to live our lives the way we choose, and no government can take our rights to, you know, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness away from us.
He also talks about James Madison and the Bill of Rights and the most important right is freedom of speech. That is that no government can tell you what to say or what not to say.»
Rand Paul, who famously puts Constitutional principles front and center in the public square, also played a key role in the book’s thematic development.
Kelley Paul and her husband Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul. (Courtesy Kelley Paul)
«Rand has been incredibly supportive. I’m just so grateful and blessed to have had an amazing, now 36-year marriage to Rand Paul. And he was very involved. He would read over the drafts and gave me a lot of, like I said, good advice about things in history that he thought I should include.
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And I’m also just very grateful to be the daughter-in-law of Ron Paul. And so, I wanted these books to be there for our little grandson who I call ‘my favorite little American’ and help him from an early age be educated in the legacy that, the Paul family has in this country.»
politics, education, history, american stories
La Dirección General de Aduanas (DGA) de República Dominicana reportó un incremento en sus ingresos durante los primeros seis meses de 2026, alcanzando RD$129.236 millones (USD 2,209 millones), lo que representa un aumento absoluto de RD$3,290 millones (USD 56.2 millones) respecto al mismo periodo del año anterior.
Este desempeño se produce en un contexto internacional marcado por tensiones geopolíticas que han impactado el comercio exterior, según detalló la entidad recaudadora.
De acuerdo con la información oficial de la DGA, los resultados de junio muestran un nivel de cumplimiento de 100.9% en sus metas de recaudación, con un superávit de RD$218 millones (USD 3.73 millones).
En ese mes, la institución registró ingresos por RD$24,162 millones (US$413 millones), lo que equivale a un crecimiento interanual de 15.4%, es decir, RD$3,225 millones (USD 55.2 millones) adicionales en comparación con junio de 2025. Esta cifra marca un avance relevante para la gestión aduanera dominicana.
Un dato destacado por la institución es que durante el periodo analizado se registró el día de mayor recaudación en la historia de la entidad, con RD$1,880.91 millones (USD 32.1 millones), superando el récord anterior de RD$1,853.72 millones (US$31.7 millones) alcanzado en 2022. Este hecho refuerza la tendencia positiva de los ingresos aduaneros en el país caribeño.
El director de la DGA, Nelson Arroyo, atribuyó estos resultados al compromiso de impulsar medidas para facilitar y agilizar el despacho de mercancías en los principales puertos y aeropuertos del país. Según sus palabras, “este aumento en las recaudaciones de la entidad que dirige es producto del compromiso que asumimos de continuar impulsando iniciativas dirigidas a facilitar y agilizar el despacho de mercancías en los puertos y aeropuertos del país”.
Arroyo precisó que, entre enero y junio de 2026, los contenedores importados bajo el régimen de consumo aumentaron en 1.5% respecto al mismo periodo del año anterior, una variación que consideró relevante dadas las condiciones internacionales adversas.
Por su parte, según la DGA, las tensiones geopolíticas internacionales han condicionado el desempeño del comercio exterior dominicano durante este semestre. A pesar de dicho entorno desafiante, la DGA sostuvo su capacidad recaudatoria y mantuvo la eficiencia en el control aduanero, según las declaraciones recogidas en la comunicación oficial.
La entidad aduanera también enfatizó la importancia de las estrategias implementadas para mejorar la gestión y el control tributario en las fronteras, aspecto que contribuyó a sostener y elevar los niveles de recaudación. El balance presentado por la institución indica que las metas propuestas para el semestre no solo se cumplieron, sino que se superaron, lo cual refuerza la confianza en los procesos internos adoptados por la administración actual.
Los datos publicados por la DGA reflejan, además, el impacto que las decisiones administrativas y operativas han tenido sobre el flujo de mercancías y el ingreso fiscal. El incremento en la entrada de contenedores, aunque moderado, se percibe como un resultado positivo dadas las circunstancias internacionales que afectan el comercio global. Las autoridades aduaneras han reiterado su intención de seguir fortaleciendo los mecanismos de supervisión y facilitación del comercio, con el propósito de mantener el ritmo de crecimiento observado hasta la fecha.
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