Before Graham Blattner’s dramatic exit from the Senate race in Maine last week, the Democratic nominee received glowing coverage from legacy media outlets that pushed the narrative that he was a salty oyster farmer who could win back male voters and unseat longtime Republican incumbent Susan Collins.
Now that he’s out of the race after multiple scandals, including a rape allegation from his ex-girlfriend, which he denied, the friendly coverage he’s received is getting a second look.
The Guardian was among the first media outlets to profile Blatner, publishing a story last August headlined, “This oyster man from Maine thinks Democrats are doing a ‘jack’ on fascism. So he’s running for US Senate.”
The outlet told readers how Blattner doesn’t present like a “progressive stereotype,” listing his nicknames as “war veteran, conch man, and competitive shooter,” adding that he spends his weekends “at the local artillery.”
“Blatner believes the party needs an outsider. He believes establishment Democratic candidates have repeatedly failed to appeal to working-class Americans, accelerating the rise of MAGA.” The Guardian wrote. “As he surveys the American political landscape, Blatner is angry at a Democratic Party that he sees as more interested in raising money than helping people, a party that wants to appease MAGA, to confront it in the middle, rather than fight it.”
The New Yorker magazine praised Blatner’s campaign launch video in its profile, saying it portrayed him as a “strong, likable, working-class Democratic candidate,” but that it “could just as easily have been the opening credits for a reality TV show called ‘Oyster Man.'”
“It’s a macho movie with a Jeep commercial soundtrack that shows him diving in his wetsuit, chopping wood, pulling oyster cages, and practicing bell swings,” Lisa Wood-Shapiro wrote on her website. “There are close-ups of his tattoos, along with shots of him holding his wife’s hand.” New Yorker piece.
Shapiro praised that he was “drawing support from both sides of the aisle,” claiming that “several people… [Donald] Trump supporters said they would vote for him despite his leftist platform.
“I’ve had Plattner’s number for years, getting oyster orders off his boat. I’ve seen him shuck oysters at parties, fundraisers… and soon my friends were discussing over gin and tonics how they always knew he would be popular,” Shapiro gushed.
The Washington Post highlighted Blatner in a September report titled “Meet the Powerful Men of the 2026 Midterms.”
“They are white, burly, middle-aged military veterans who work with their hands and seem more comfortable in plaid flannel than pinstripe suits. They believe that the anti-establishment populism that Republicans embraced during the Trump era can work the other way, too.” wrote the post About Blatner and other Democratic hopefuls.
Journalist Ross Barkan wrote a profile for GQ magazine in October titled, “Graham Blattner, a Marine turned Oysterman, is ready to fight Trump. Will the MAGA guys join him?”
“In the battle for the soul of the Democratic Party, Senate candidate Graham Blatner may be the ideal soldier: the virile working man that many male politicians hope for, with the committed leftist beliefs that many voters now demand.” Barkan started the profile.
Barkan bragged about Blatner’s “friendly snarl” and how he was “very appealing” to progressive Democrats in their efforts to win back the men.
“The Oyster Man joins the list of anti-establishment candidates across America: men — yes, mostly men — who have channeled the growing anger at the status quo,” Barkan wrote. “Platner claims Trump voters can still return to the Democratic coalition. He just gave me oysters straight out of the water. They taste salty, then sweet. If he’s elected, he’s unlikely to attend many soirees in D.C. or fundraisers in wine caves.”
Here are the latest on the sexual assault allegations that forced Graham Blatner to withdraw from the Senate race in Maine:
Michelle Goldberg, a liberal New York Times columnist, has written several articles praising Platner’s candidacy and how he has weathered controversies such as his Nazi tattoos and offensive Reddit posts, saying he is “nothing like the caricature I encountered online” when she traveled to Maine to meet him in October, was amazed by the crowds he gathered, and said many locals claim they had not seen him since Barack Obama. She also said that Blattner was “pretty convincing” about his claim that he did not know that his skull and crossbones tattoo was Totenkopf’s symbol despite reports claiming that he did know.
“On stage, Blattner is engaging. Like Obama, he seems to promise a fundamentally progressive policy while transcending petty partisan sniping. He shows his audience a respect that seems at least on par with theirs.” Goldberg wrote at that time. “But the main difference with Obama is that Platner is visibly angry…and that anger resonates with a base that is both terrified and angry at the same time.”
In a separate article published in April, Goldberg recalled, “I felt the charge in the air — that rare alchemy that is born when a politician is able to draw a crowd of people to a shared vision of the future,” telling Times readers that one voter she met linked him to Obama during his 2008 presidential bid and that he was “a natural.”
“One lesson from Maine’s Democratic Senate primary is that no one should underestimate the intense anger among the party’s voters.” Goldberg said. “Maine Democrats, who had personally seen Blatner tirelessly crisscross the state, seemed ready to move past the negative stories.”
Goldberg later said she “deeply” regretted her crush on Blatner after his ex-girlfriend Jenny Racicot accused him of sexual assault, something he vehemently denied.
Only this May, Time magazine featured him on the cover, calling him a “party buster.”
“Blatner’s story reads more like a hackneyed movie plot: With Democratic voters looking to outsiders to change the system, a Marine veteran from Sullivan, Maine, population 1,300, comes along as their new national star.” Time books. “He is attacking the state with a boxing brand of economic populism, building a following so quickly that he is forcing his central opponent, two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, out of the race before voters can cast their ballots. Even in this anti-establishment, unabashedly ageist political moment, Blatner’s rise has been remarkable.”
Time magazine marveled at how “voters gravitated toward Blatner” despite his various controversies, writing: “After decades of nominating technocrats with glittering resumes, many Democrats want candidates with blemishes, faded ink, and redemption arcs that resemble their past. In other words, Platner’s past may actually be his path.”
“Platner put his hand to his brown beard and launched into his rhetoric: He doesn’t want to join the Senate to be part of the system. He wants to tear up this system and build a better system. But he admits it takes a leap of faith for voters to believe he won’t betray their values and he has already converted. “There’s also an element of this, where I really have to say, ‘Just trust me, bro,'” the Time piece concluded.