| Graham Platner is no longer running for the U.S. Senate in Maine. But that doesn’t mean he won’t be a major figure in the campaign to defeat Sen. Susan Collins (R). After Democrats officially nominated former state Senate president Troy Jackson over the weekend, Republicans unveiled their strategy to take him down: Tie him, in any way possible, to Platner, who won the Democratic nomination earlier this year, but ended his campaign after a woman he once dated accused him of sexual assault. The first salvo came from the Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC closely tied to Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R). They announced a six-figure ad campaign in the minutes after Jackson was nominated, with an ad showing images of Jackson campaigning alongside Platner and leaning on Washington Post reporting about the former Senate president’s confrontational style that some said bordered on bullying. “Jackson is like Graham Platner, but worse,” the narrator of the ad says. Then Pine Tree Results PAC, the super PAC supporting Collins’s reelection bid, released an ad noting Jackson “bragged about being one of Graham Platner’s earliest supporters” and stood by the controversial candidate through his numerous scandals. “When the news of Platner’s Nazi tattoo came out, Jackson stood with Platner. When Platner blamed women for getting raped because they get drunk, Jackson stood by Platner, and when the media reported Platner was violent toward women, Jackson stood again with Platner,” says the narrator in the ad before showing Platner at a rally thanking Jackson for his support. The two ads make the Republican strategy clear: Turn Jackson into a Platner double. It has long been the obvious strategy against whomever Maine Democrats nominated to replace Platner, but it’s particularly potent against Jackson, who was once one of Platner’s most fervent supporters. Collins has been notably mum when it comes to Platner and Jackson, a strategy that has allowed her to largely focus on her own record, at least for now. “When chaos threatens to drown out competence, experience matters,” says the narrator in an ad from Collins campaign that was released Tuesday. A Collins aide said their strategy has not changed — they plan to continue running on Collins’s record. The outside Republican strategy, though, will also force Jackson to tread carefully when tying himself to the movement that Platner built (which also helped get Jackson the nomination) without linking himself to Platner the man. “There’s no doubt Graham did a great job as far as getting people going,” Jackson said on MS NOW on Tuesday morning, before arguing that the campaign against Collins is “way bigger than any one person, bigger than Graham, certainly bigger than me.” “It’s about continuing to make sure that the movement goes forward, that I make sure and let people know that, look, all these things that you wanted when you were talking to Graham, we can still get them, we can still do that,” Jackson said. Democrats in Maine are skeptical that tying Jackson to Platner will work. “Mainers are well aware that Graham Platner isn’t the Democratic candidate anymore, so these backward-looking guilt-by-association attacks won’t resonate,” said Ian Russell, a Democratic operative who works in Maine politics. “But it’s imperative that Troy Jackson introduce himself to blunt these attacks — and judging by the fact that he’s the top fundraiser on ActBlue right now, he’ll have the resources to do just that.” The reason all this matters is because Collins is particularly vulnerable this year. This election is almost certain to be difficult for Republicans, and Maine has moved away from even Collins’s centrism in recent years. Additionally, a decade of Collins having to strike a balance between her natural centrism and staying in line with Trump’s MAGA base has taken a toll on how voters in Maine view her. A University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll released earlier this month found the race between Jackson and Collins is statistically tied, but also revealed that the Republican senator has a net approval rating of -18 percentage points, with 35 percent of voters holding a favorable view of her, compared with 53 percent who have an unfavorable view. “Susan Collins has never been more vulnerable after she voted with Donald Trump 96 percent of the time, confirmed the justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, and enriched herself and her special interest backers at the expense of Mainers,” said Maddy McDaniel, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senate’s campaign arm. “Come November, Mainers will vote her out.” This Republican strategy doesn’t mean this race is any less competitive — something that even the National Republican Senatorial Committee acknowledged. In a memo to donors, the committee acknowledges the public polling showing Jackson with a narrow edge and that Jackson “is fully capable of winning this seat if we become complacent.” “Millions were spent defining Graham Platner, but his exit resets the race,” reads the memo that ratchets up the pressure. “We must act immediately to define [Jackson] before national Democrats frame him as a populist outsider.” Our picks What we’re watching A lot is happening on immigration this week. Our colleague Maria Sacchetti wrote Tuesday that the Trump administration launched a plan to “channel hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers directly into deportation proceedings,” arguing the rule is needed because the asylum system is facing a “crisis.” Some immigration attorneys argue, however, that the change could lead to people being removed from the United States without a hearing. Officials said as many as 444,724 immigration cases could be impacted. This comes as President Donald Trump and the Republican Party have looked to curb both legal and illegal immigration into the U.S. The issue has been central to Trump’s political career. The ramifications of the Supreme Court’s decision allowing Trump to cancel temporary humanitarian protections for Haitian and Syrian immigrants living legally in the U.S. have begun to be felt, too. The Trump administration earlier this month extended work permissions for immigrants from Haiti and six other countries. But those work permits ended as late as last week, making advocates worry that deportations could begin soon. Some Republicans have vented about the impact the end to these work permits could have on local economies. “They won’t have any way to make a living. It will be illegal for companies to employ them,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican whose state has a large Haitian community, said on CNN. “This will be a big blow to the community. These are people who came here to work and fill jobs.” In your local paper Minnesota Reformer: Peggy Flanagan, the progressive candidate in Minnesota’s competitive Senate primary, can’t escape one f-word: fraud. The fraud crisis in Minnesota “is feeding Republican dreams of ending their 20-year losing streak in statewide races despite midterm headwinds for the party in the White House.” Oregon Capital Chronicle: A pro-data center group registered by the Data Center Coalition is airing ads in Oregon and other states that “attempt to counter common critiques of data centers, including their enormous demand for water, energy, land and relatively low levels of job creation.” From you We received scores of emails about our questions around showing identification to vote, spurred by Trump’s push for passage of the Save America Act, a sweeping voting bill that the president has said would guarantee Republicans the midterms. Let’s be clear: The law is not just about requiring identification to vote. Per Theodoric Meyer, it “would require Americans to prove their citizenship when registering to vote and to show photo identification to vote. It would also require states to share their voter rolls with the Department of Homeland Security.” Many of you were okay with some forms of voter ID. “I don’t find it a problem to show my ID when voting, as long as it is the ID that I currently have in my wallet,” said Gregory Smyth. “I can use this ID in any circumstance where an ID is required. Why not for voting? Why should I need anything else?” “My state, Oregon, has enjoyed voting by mail since 1998. Proof of citizenship is required to register. In my opinion, that’s enough,” added William Coyne. “There should be no problem with showing ID to vote. We are required to have an ID to drive; purchase certain items, and last week I was required to present my photo ID to enter a gated community to visit a relative,” wrote Dean Myers. “Voting is a great privilege and it comes with some responsibilities. Proving we are eligible citizens is not too high a bar in my opinion.” But the issue that many have with this recent push by Republicans is the possible requirement of showing a passport or birth certificate to be eligible to vote. “I have always had to show my driver’s license to vote. In fact, my voter registration card was not even requested or even accepted when presented. It’s not a big deal,” wrote Toni Carpenter. “However, I have never needed to show my passport, which required time, money, a birth certificate and marriage license to reconcile my name change. I happened to have those documents. Many women would have to start from square one, engaging in a bureaucratic nightmare.” John Bowen recalled having to show a Marine Corps-issued identification card while he was growing up with a Marine Corps officer father. “I don’t object to requiring a voter showing an I.D. card to register to vote or to cast his ballot. ... But I object to the notion that a potential voter must go through the rigmarole of showing his birth certificate to exercise his right to vote. A state issued driver’s license or I.D. should satisfy even the most paranoid citizen concerned about voter fraud,” Bowen added. And Pamela Plant added, “It irks me when people talk about showing an ID to vote. Showing an ID is not the issue. I think people should have to show an ID to vote. But my driver’s license isn’t good enough. A student ID isn’t good enough.” Send a reply I absolutely loved this piece from Kyle Melnick on the grandma who fought for a bill to allow happy hour at retirement homes in Minnesota. The piece really drove home how happy hours can bring people together — and how laws can sometimes get in the way. So we wanted to get your views: Should states make it easier for community groups to bring people together over alcohol? Or are there good reasons for these state laws? Let us and your fellow Early Brief readers know at earlytips@washpost.com. Thanks for reading. You can follow Dan on X: @merica. | 
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