Graham Platner is the Democrats' Ken Paxton

That’s the question that hangs uncomfortably over the candidacy of Graham Platner, the all-but-certain Democratic nominee in the Maine Senate race. Last week, reports surfaced that Platner, who has been married since 2023, had sent sexual text messages to at least six women. That bombshell follows earlier revelations that Platner had posted sexist, racist and otherwise offensive messages on Reddit and that he had a Nazi-inspired tattoo.

There are likely still more unknown unknowns, because with political neophytes there always are.

All of this puts Democrats’ chances of flipping the Senate in a precarious position. Maine is one of their best chances to pick up a seat in November. Sen. Susan Collins, running for her sixth term, is the only incumbent Republican Senator running for reelection in a state won by former Vice President Kamala Harris.

But Democrats’ hopes now rest on a baggage-laden candidate with clear character issues and a sketchy past.

If this sounds familiar, it should. Platner is the closest parallel Democrats have to Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton, the scandal-plagued state attorney general. And Paxton himself is a mini version of President Donald Trump, the ultimate Teflon candidate.

Republicans made their choices, nominating Trump three times and backing Paxton over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in Texas. Now, Democratic voters face their own test of how much they can stomach and excuse.

Looking past some bad behavior isn’t entirely new to Democrats. (See: Bill Clinton.) But an SS tattoo and blaming sexual assault victims is on a different level. Still, some Democrats say these are different times, when they badly need to shed their image as coastal elites out of touch with the working class.

Platner’s SMS indiscretions were raised by his wife, Amy Gertner, at the start of his Senate campaign as part of an attempt to get ahead of any negative stories. Gertner said in a statement that the couple sought counseling and that their marriage "is stronger than ever before." But it complicates Platner’s neat narrative, which paints his already-known indiscretions and offensive statements as the result of a lack of community and stability after three tours of duty as a Marine. Platner has apologized for those past statements, saying he was a changed man, but the sexting incidents all took place after that "change."

"It’s like, goddamn — again?" Breese Reagle, a sandwich shop owner, told the Washington Post when he heard about the sexting incident. Nevertheless, Reagle said he still planned to vote for Platner. (The story was apparently leaked by a former campaign official, which raises the question of what else the official might know and be willing to disclose.)

One possibility is that scandal fatigue dampens enthusiasm among Democrats. But in this ultra-polarized environment, it could work the other way, hardening support for Platner. "Sure, he’s a hot mess, but he is our hot mess," voters can tell themselves. That’s the dynamic that has helped Trump and Paxton succeed despite a raft of scandals that would have sunk any normal candidate in any normal time.

Republicans won’t find it difficult to write the attack ads. Yet the effectiveness of such ads is still an open question, given that Platner survived Gov. Janet Mills’ onslaught, which focused on his offensive comments about victims of sexual assault.

For her part, Collins has never faced such an unconventional candidate. Her contrast with Platner will be old versus new, Washington experience versus real-world experience, "concerns" versus outrage. The race will be expensive — and close.

In 2020, Democrats were buoyed by polls that consistently showed Collins behind her opponent, yet she ended up winning comfortably by 7 points. A late May poll by the University of New Hampshire had Platner leading Collins, 51% to 42%. But a recent internal poll by a Democratic-aligned group after the sexting scandal broke showed Platner with a slim 4-point margin, 49% to 45%. That’s not good.

The sexting revelations led to a round of handwringing among Senate Democrats, some of whom backed Mills, seen as a safer choice given that she is the only Democrat to win a statewide race in Maine in the last 20 years.

"I’m still on the ballot," Mills said on Monday in an interview with The Portland Press Herald.

The primary election is June 9.

For now, Democrats are standing by Platner, saying he fits the times.

"This electorate is looking for candidates who will take bold and clear stands and be willing to challenge the powers that be," said progressive California Congressman Ro Khanna in the Washington Post who will rally with Platner in Maine tomorrow. "That is the political character test."

But Democratic voters face a character test of their own. The party has never had to mount a full-scale embrace of a candidate whose past statements are so at odds with what the party says it stands for.

This column reflects the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners. Nia-Malika Henderson is a politics and policy columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. A former senior political reporter for CNN and the Washington Post, she has covered politics and campaigns for almost two decades.