Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, right, introduces Graham Platner during Monday’s rally at Thompson’s Point in Portland. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

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PORTLAND — The last time Bernie Sanders came to town, the combat veteran and oyster farmer who he introduced to the audience was still a stranger to Maine politics.

Nine months later, Graham Platner is expected to secure the Democratic nomination after Gov. Janet Mills announced in April that she was ending her campaign.

Platner is now gearing up for his fight in the general election against Sen. Susan Collins, a five-term Republican incumbent who Platner referenced only a few times during his speech at Thompson’s Point on Monday night.

“We will win the primary,” Platner told a crowd of a few thousand, who were waving miniature American flags and campaign signs. “And we will win the general.”

Sanders, Platner and Troy Jackson — the former Senate president and fifth-generation logger running for governor — were at Thompson’s Point on Memorial Day as part of Sanders’ “Fighting Oligarchy” tour.

Graham Platner talks with a classmate, Byron Oakes, that he attended high school with at John Bapst Memorial High School during Monday’s rally at Thompson’s Point in Portland on Monday. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

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Sanders said these events have drawn hundreds of thousands of Americans from various political beliefs over the years.

It’s Sanders’ second recent event in Portland with Platner and Jackson. All three were in Orono on the University of Maine campus Sunday night, which attracted more than 1,400 people, according to reporting by the Bangor Daily News.

All three men spoke of their support for universal health care, improved access to child care and housing. Sanders said that, if Platner is elected to the Senate, he expects that Platner will join in his fight for a 5% annual wealth tax for the country’s richest individuals.

Platner said he believed Collins and other long-time politicians have prioritized the wealthy over the working class for decades.

Collins spent Memorial Day at related events in Springvale and Searsmont, where the community is still recovering from a recent and fatal lumber mill fire, according to campaign spokesman Shawn Roderick.

Sen. Susan Collins attends the Searsmont Memorial Day parade on Monday. (Courtesy of Susan Collins for Maine)

“Graham Platner spent the weekend at political rallies after hiding this week from his disgusting statements saying that an American soldier who was shot in Afghanistan was stupid, fat, and didn’t deserve to live,” Roderick said, addressing a deleted reddit post Platner made in 2019 regarding Ted Daniels, an Army veteran who years earlier had uploaded a video of himself stepping closer to the line of fire as Taliban soldiers fired at him and his troop.

Outside of Monday’s event, three people carried signs, quoting Platner’s post about Daniels. They declined to speak with a reporter, stating that the signs “spoke for themselves.”

Platner’s campaign did not address Roderick’s statement Monday night, and Platner did not discuss the Reddit post in his speech. A veteran himself, Platner was recently endorsed by VoteVets, a Democratic organization.

The crowd cheers for Graham Platner during Monday’s rally at Thompson’s Point in Portland on Monday. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

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Bill Jefferson, a Vietnam veteran and anti-war activist, told the audience on Monday that Platner is fighting to protect veteran healthcare.

Many of those in the audience said they had attended Sanders’ first event with Platner last year. That included Nicole and Joe Gorsun of Sanford.

“Nobody knew how successful the campaign was going to be,” Nicole Gorsun said.

Both Gorsuns have been engaged in opposing a sludge plant proposed in Sanford.

Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson speaks during Monday’s rally at Thompson’s Point in Portland on Monday. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer) 

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Platner and his campaign helped raise awareness against the project, the Gorsuns said, adding that it’s because of Platner’s help that a moratorium against the plant will be on the ballot in November. They said Platner was one of the only politicians who responded to the request.

“Graham’s not even an elected official yet,” Nicole Gorsun said, “but he got us the help we needed.”

Jon Perry, of Saco, said this was his first time seeing either Platner or Sanders in person. Perry said that he believes Sanders to be a “consistent” politician. He was excited to see what Platner was like in person, after seeing so much coverage over the last year.

“You see a lot of snippets of people talking, but you never get to hear them talk,” Perry said.