Politics
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BATH, Maine — Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner tapped into his connections to Judaism at a Thursday Passover seder, offering words of openness and spiritual support in an effort to counter a major vulnerability of his campaign.
More than 50 community members, including a handful from other faiths who had never attended a seder, gathered at the Smith-Tobey Post 21 American Legion hall in Bath for the traditional Jewish ritual meal.
After the Sullivan military veteran shook hands with arriving guests and hugged friends, he told the Bangor Daily News that when he attended his first seder in his 20s, he found it to be the “coolest religious ritual,” delivering a communal message on freedom from oppression.
“It’s a great time to listen … and take on information from people with different viewpoints,” Platner told the group after they seated at long tables prepared with food.
The seder came as Platner’s sharp criticism of Israel and an old tattoo of a Nazi-linked skull-and-crossbones symbol remain among the major factors in a primary against Gov. Janet Mills. She is a strong supporter of Israel, which has seen its favorability drop sharply among Democra ts following its war in Gaza.
He is leading Mills in the primary for the right to face longtime Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, also a supporter of Israel who defended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee after Platner pledged to refuse donations from the pro-Israel lobbying group.
The campaign and organizers said it was Platner’s idea to host Thursday’s event. With a Jewish stepfather, stepbrother and other family ties, Platner says he’s long enjoyed the holiday’s traditions, keeping political comments brief. Guests sang blessings and solemnly took turns reading the story of the Hebrews’ exodus from Egypt before enjoying salad, salmon and brisket.
Steven Koltai, the Maine chair of the progressive Jewish group J Street whom Platner asked to help organize the event, noted Passover has been “inherently political” for thousands of years.
Koltai said in an interview that given the tenor of the campaign season and the rise of antisemitism, it was meaningful that Platner initiated the seder. The son of Holocaust survivors, Koltai said he was concerned in the fall when he learned of the tattoo and Platner’s descriptions of Israel’s actions as “genocide.”
In-depth conversations with Platner eased his concerns. He added that as a supporter of Israel and a two-state solution, he agreed with much of Platner’s critique of Israeli policy.
The issues nagging Platner’s campaign aren’t likely to go anywhere during a contentious election year. But like early Platner supporter U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, a Jewish critic of Israel, Koltai said “these other issues are secondary” to who should win the election.
“The nature of our politics … it’s kind of become a food fight,” Koltai, a 71-year-old former U.S. State Department official, said. “It wasn’t always as mean and uncivil and nasty as everyone, regardless of their political view, recognizes we are today.”
Platner has faced criticism from across the political spectrum, and from some Jewish groups, over his critique of Israel and the Totenkopf tattoo, which he covered after it was reported last year. He told Pod Save America in October that he is “not a secret Nazi” and he’s a “lifelong opponent” of antisemitism and racism.
He supports ceasing military aid to Israel, which he says engaged in genocide in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas. Last year in Damariscotta, he said he agreed with the characterization of Israel as a terrorist state.
Last week at an East Millinocket town hall, he said the U.S. is now at war with Iran because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has been pushing this thing for 30 years and he finally found an American president who was a sucker enough to go for it.”
Mills has condemned the rise in antisemitism in recent years. She also opposed measures to divest from Israel in Portland and Belfast in 2024. The previous year, lawmakers considered changes to state laws after reports of a neo-Nazi training camp being built in Penobscot County.
Platner’s critics are quick to note the timeline and explanations around the tattoo he got while deployed overseas have been inconsistent.
In October, Platner said he’d only recently learned that the symbol had a Nazi affiliation. That same month, Platner’s political director, former state Rep. Genevieve McDonald, D-Stonington, resigned from the campaign and said the candidate told her about a month prior that the tattoo “could be problematic.”
Mills supporters also point to Platner’s boosting of a post by antisemitic conspiracy theorist Stew Peters in February, which was later deleted in what his team called an error. Platner told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency this week that the video revealing the tattoo was taken at his brother’s Jewish wedding, suggesting many close to him were unaware of the tattoo’s SS ties.
Platner said each family and each community with whom he’s joined a seder has been unique. But they’ve all given him “a deeper spiritual connection to what it means to be people who stand up for each other, and for those who cannot stand up for themselves.”
“Building a better world is a constant struggle,” Platner said to end the seder. “The Passover story is one of action and activism. We are in a time where our action is required.”
