NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Maine just sent a blunt message to the Democratic Party\u2019s national leaders.<\/p>\n
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills was forced to abandon<\/a> her U.S. Senate campaign on Thursday, unable to generate sufficient fundraising or enthusiasm to compete against Graham Platner<\/a>, an oyster farmer who has never served in elected office. The announcement marked a stinging defeat for Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer<\/a>, who recruited Mills to lead the party\u2019s decades-long quest to defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins. <\/p>\n The swift defenestration of a two-term governor by a political neophyte highlighted a stark reality that has begun to take hold at a pivotal moment \u2014 Democratic voters are rejecting their party\u2019s establishment and embracing new risks, even as their confidence grows that a blue wave is coming in November\u2019s midterm elections. <\/p>\n Sometimes Democrats seem almost as angry at their own party\u2019s aging and entrenched leadership as they are at President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n \u201cRank-and-file Democrats don\u2019t want the Democratic Party as we know it,\u201d said Ezra Levin, co-founder of the Democratic resistance group Indivisible. \u201cRank-and-file Democrats want fighters.\u201d<\/p>\n Local Indivisible chapters, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who\u2019s an independent but caucuses with Democrats, and other leaders from the party\u2019s progressive wing had already lined up behind Platner, who is now almost certain to be the Democratic nominee in one of the party\u2019s best Senate pickup opportunities in the nation.<\/p>\n Platner on Friday insisted he would continue to speak out against his party\u2019s leadership, including Schumer, although he acknowledged that the two spoke privately the night before. <\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that we\u2019ve been able to do all of this without the help of the establishment, it puts us in such an amazing position,\u201d Platner said on MS NOW\u2019s \u201cMorning Joe.\u201d \u201cMy criticisms of the party leadership, my criticisms of the party, they have not changed, and I\u2019ve been very vocal about that since the beginning. But we will absolutely take the help that we can get.\u201d<\/p>\n Republicans, meanwhile, are giddy \u2014 and some moderate Democratic strategists are worried \u2014 that the anti-establishment shift may undermine the party\u2019s effort to claw back control of Congress in November.<\/p>\n \u201cChuck Schumer has officially lost the first battle in his proxy war with Bernie Sanders,\u201d said Bernadette Breslin, spokesperson for the Senate Republicans\u2019 campaign arm. \u201cAs Sanders hits the campaign trail to prop up progressives in messy Democrat primaries in Michigan and Minnesota, Schumer\u2019s chances of getting his preferred candidates through look grim.\u201d<\/p>\n The backlash is bigger than Maine<\/p>\n Maine is far from alone. <\/p>\n Prominent anti-establishment clashes are playing out in high-profile Senate races across Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa, along with House races in several states.<\/p>\n Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist<\/a>, continues to promote Platner and other critics of the Democratic Party\u2019s national leadership. The Vermont senator will campaign this weekend in Detroit with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed<\/a>, who is running in a three-way Senate primary against Rep. Haley Stevens and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow. <\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a desire to turn the page on the old guard,\u201d Sanders\u2019 political adviser Faiz Shakir said. \u201cIt\u2019s not even just the Democratic electorate. There\u2019s a populist mood in this country. You\u2019d have to be blind not to see it.\u201d <\/p>\n Indeed, McMorrow is actively working to remind voters that she would not support Schumer as Democrats\u2019 Senate leader if given the chance.<\/p>\n \u201cFrankly, I was the first person in this country to say no,\u201d McMorrow said in a video she posted Thursday on social media. \u201cIt is a different moment. This is no longer a Republican Party we\u2019re dealing with, it is a MAGA party that has been taken over by Trump loyalists. … You need to respond in a very different way.\u201d<\/p>\n Veteran Democratic strategists like Lis Smith, who works with candidates across the country, tied the anti-establishment shift to the party\u2019s painful losses in 2024, when President Joe Biden was forced to abandon his reelection bid<\/a> and Vice President Kamala Harris went on to lose to Trump<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cAfter 2024, voters are sick of the gerontocracy, sick of the status quo, and Chuck Schumer has completely misread that,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n Moderates push back<\/p>\n Privately, Schumer\u2019s allies downplay the impact of the anti-establishment backlash. <\/p>\n The Senate Democratic leader\u2019s preferred picks in North Carolina, Ohio and Alaska haven\u2019t faced the same challenges as Mills did in Maine. The four states represent the party\u2019s most likely path to a majority in the chamber, which has 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats and two independents who caucus with the Democrats.<\/p>\n Mills is the oldest of the candidates and, at 78, would have been the oldest freshman senator in history. She promised to serve one term if elected. Platner is only 41. <\/p>\n Schumer\u2019s team is unwilling to make any apologies for backing Mills over Platner.<\/p>\n \u201cLeader Schumer\u2019s North Star is taking back the Senate,\u201d Schumer spokesperson Allison Biasotti said. \u201cWhen no one thought a Senate majority was possible just a year ago, he made it a reality by recruiting great candidates across the country and laying out an agenda for lower costs and better lives for Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n Some in the Democratic Party\u2019s moderate wing are worried.<\/p>\n Matt Bennett, co-founder of the center-left group Third Way, said that Platner\u2019s emergence in Maine \u201cwithout a doubt\u201d will make it harder for Democrats to defeat Collins in November. He warns that it could be the same elsewhere if Democratic primary voters rally behind anti-establishment candidates.<\/p>\n \u201cOur message is if you would like to beat Donald Trump\u2019s Republicans, you better nominate people who can win,\u201d Bennett said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Maine just sent a blunt message to the Democratic Party\u2019s national leaders. 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