Kicking off the week with a pair of looks at how Democrats are campaigning in Maine and Iowa, two states where they're looking to capture offices that have been in Republican hands. Maine holds primary elections on Tuesday, and this week's primaries keep rolling through Nevada and North Dakota. There are also contests in South Carolina, where I am covering a governor's race that on the Republican side has revolved largely around winning President Donald Trump's favor.
Plus, in the year of America 250, we take a look at the latest polling from AP-NORC on Americans' view of U.S. exceptionalism. |
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Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks to an overflow crowd outside a campaign event Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) |
Graham Platner gets a lift from friendly Maine crowd after week of damage control in Senate campaign — By Patrick Whittle and Kimberlee Kruesi
In Maine, Graham Platner was met by an enthusiastic and supportive crowd Sunday at a town hall-style event as the Democrat looks to advance his Senate campaign after reports about his past treatment of women just days before the state's crucial primary.
The Democratic primary is still seen as Platner's to win, but he is facing questions about his past that could make it difficult to defeat longtime incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
The New York Times on Thursday reported an ex-girlfriend's allegations that Platner repeatedly grabbed her by the shoulders during arguments and once twisted her arm behind her back and locked her in a room. Platner has repeatedly called those allegations of violence untrue.
Other Platner ex-girlfriends interviewed by the Times described positive experiences, while some said he was volatile and insulting. That story came days after news reports revealing that Platner had exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married.
Despite the allegations, no major Democrats who had previously endorsed Platner have rescinded their support.
Read more from Whittle and Kruesi on Platner's latest campaigning. |
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Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear joins Rob Sand at Iowa rally |
Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rob Sand, left, greets Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear during a campaign rally, Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall) |
Rob Sand rallies with Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear as Democrats aim to flip Iowa governor seat — By Hannah Fingerhut
And in Iowa, Rob Sand rallied a crowd for the first time as the official Democratic nominee for governor on Sunday, kicking off a countdown to November with the support of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
The race for governor between Sand and Republican Zach Lahn stands to be one of the most competitive in the country as Iowans face a state budget deficit, struggling agricultural economy and cancer crisis. Democrats are putting faith in him to blaze a trail in the state after struggling electorally in recent cycles, hoping his message of unity will resonate with their fellow Iowans.
Sand, who was unopposed on the primary ballot, learned who his opponent would be after Tuesday’s primary settled an unpredictable five-way Republican contest.
Iowa has open races for both governor and U.S. senator for the first time since 1968, plus three battleground congressional races. National attention on the state has soared in recent months, drawing Trump and Vice President JD Vance to Iowa.
Democrats still have a 200,000-person deficit in statewide voter registration, and they are outnumbered in every House district.
Read more of Fingerhut's reporting from Des Moines. |
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AP Elections Spotlight: Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina |
A ballot is handed to a voter, Nov. 8, 2022, in Lewiston, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) |
The big picture: Tuesday’s primaries in four states will set the table for a pivotal U.S. Senate race in Maine and some U.S. House seats where Republicans hope to put Democrats on the defensive. Meanwhile, two gubernatorial races could help shape the early stages of the 2028 presidential campaign.
The Maine event: Graham Platner has faced new scrutiny over his alleged past behavior towards several women, but he remains the front-runner for the Democratic U.S. Senate nomination. Gov. Janet Mills suspended her primary challenge in April citing fundraising challenges, but, as she reminded a local journalist recently, she’s still on the ballot.
Districts are red, incumbents are blue: Republicans are eyeing two Democratic House districts that Trump carried in 2024. Maine-02 is an open seat, while Democratic Rep. Susie Lee is running for reelection in Nevada-03. The winner of the Democratic primary in Maine will face former Republican Gov. Paul LePage. In Nevada, Trump has endorsed Marty O’Donnell in a crowded primary to take on Lee.
Aspiring kingmakers: The winners of the South Carolina and Nevada governorships could play a big role in shaping the 2028 presidential field. The endorsements of the early-voting state governors, and help from their political operations, will be highly sought after by the upcoming crop of White House hopefuls.
Trump endorsement watch: In additional to O’Donnell in Nevada-03, Trump has backed several candidates in Tuesday’s contests, perhaps most notably Pamela Evette over a South Carolina GOP gubernatorial primary field that includes Reps. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman. Trump endorsements are coveted, although his Iowa governor pick lost last week.
Family Feuds: It’s all relative in some of Tuesday’s primaries — literally. The candidates for Maine governor include the son of a U.S. senator, the daughter of a congresswoman and the nephew and cousin of two presidents. A Democratic Maine-02 is candidate the brother of a former governor, and a South Carolina gubernatorial hopeful is son of a congressman.
The rules: Keep these voting caveats in mind as the results come in. In Maine, if no candidate gets a majority, the ranked-choice process voting kicks in. In South Carolina and the Henderson, Nevada, mayoral race, candidates must win a vote majority to avoid a runoff. And the Fargo mayoral election will no longer use “approval voting,” where voters select as many candidates as they like, and the top vote-getter wins. The state banned the practice in 2025.
Read Yoon's latest on Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and South Carolina.
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New AP-NORC Poll: Fewer Americans see country as exceptional |
Columbia College Chicago student Kailey Ryan reads a newspaper in Chicago, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) |
As America 250 approaches, fewer Americans see their country as exceptional, AP-NORC poll finds — By Gary Fields, Linley Sanders and Nicholas Riccardi
As the U.S. prepares for an extravagant celebration of its founding principles, fewer Americans see their country as exceptional, a new poll finds.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research highlights many Americans' feeling of unease over the future of its representative government — particularly among young people. It presents a jarring contrast as communities around the country commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary. Only about one-quarter of Americans say the U.S. stands above all other countries in the world, the new poll found, while 44% say it’s one of the greatest countries in the world, along with some others. About 3 in 10 say there are better countries than the U.S., an increase from 19% in an AP-NORC poll conducted in June 2016.
Americans remain divided about whether diversity is an essential feature of the U.S.'s identity, and agreement about other aspects of the country's underlying character appears to be eroding, the survey found. Americans are less likely to see a democratically elected government as “extremely” or “very” important to the United States’ identity as a nation than they were just a few years ago. Read more from Fields, Sanders and Riccardi on the new poll. |
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