Graham Platner, amid controversies, looks to advance in Maine Dem Senate primary

Control of Congress and affordability are top of mind for many voters.

Maine voters will decide on Tuesday whether oyster farmer Graham Platner will be the Democratic Party's nominee to take on longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills is also on the Democratic Senate primary ballot on Tuesday, as is former Maryland state official David Costello. However, Mills suspended her campaign in late April citing financial resources, and a University of New Hampshire poll published recently found that Costello "is largely unknown."

Platner has been fighting controversies throughout his campaign, ranging from him once getting a tattoo accused of resembling a Nazi symbol to allegations published by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal claiming he sent sexually explicit texts to women.

And last Thursday, the Times reported that some of the Army veteran's former girlfriends said that his actions could be "intimidating and disturbing."

Platner did not deny the allegations that he sent sexually explicit texts, saying that his wife "went through something hard -- because of me."

In a statement after the Times' story was published last Thursday, Platner said, "Throughout this campaign, I've been open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, too often self medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend," "I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better. Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated."

Platner previously covered up the controversial tattoo, saying at the time that it came up "because the establishment is trying to throw everything it can at me. It is terrified of what we are trying to build here."

During a rally in Bar Harbor, Maine, on Friday -- one day after the Times' most recent story, Platner said that "every single piece" of his past and journey is being "dug up, litigated and weaponized."

Also after the Times' latest report, Platner told ABC affiliate WMTW that "I'm very happy to talk about incredibly uncomfortable things in my life, but when things come along that are just made up or lies, I'm very much going to push back against those."

Throughout the campaign cycle, polling has found that most likely primary voters view Platner positively. The University of New Hampshire poll, which published shortly before the most recent reports on Platner, found that 76% of likely voters planned on ranking Platner, a progressive who has focused on wealth inequality, first on their ballots, which have