Democrat Graham Platner secured a decisive victory in Maine’s Senate primary, overcoming the potential impact of a protest vote fueled by several recent controversies.

According to the Associated Press, the race was decided by 9:23 pm ET on Tuesday, with Platner capturing approximately 75 percent of the vote.

Around 18 percent of Democratic voters backed Governor Janet Mills, who remained on the ballot despite halting her campaign on April 30.

Even after Platner faced a barrage of negative media coverage, including allegations of misconduct from former romantic partners, Mills chose not to resume her campaign, though she did remind voters of her presence on the ballot.

In his victory speech from his hometown of Blue Hill, Platner acknowledged the scandals indirectly, discussing themes of mistakes and redemption.

‘Redemption is not just some simple or easy destination, it’s a journey. I’ve made mistakes in my life. Mistakes that I regret, that I live with. That. I continue to learn from. I’m still far from perfect,’ the Democratic nominee said. 

‘Everyday I wake up and try to get a little bit better, a little bit kinder than the day before,’ he continued. 

He wasn’t kind to his general election opponent, Republican Senator Susan Collins.

Graham Platner easily won the Democratic Senate primary in Maine despite recent scandals that rattled his campaign and his former opponent, Maine’s Democratic Governor Janet Mills, remaining on the ballot 

Platner’s Kik profile picture, viewed by the Daily Mail, showed the Democratic candidate posing shirtless and in only a towel

‘Susan Collins may have started her career decades ago in Washington with good intentions, but she has become just as spineless and corrupt as the establishment she now serves,’ Platner said. 

He blasted Collins for getting ’21 times wealthier’ since she first got elected to office. 

‘Susan Collins is getting rich while we’re getting screwed,’ the Democrat said. 

Platner is a Marine and Army National Guard veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan.  

‘Susan Collins has never met a war she didn’t like,’ he told the crowd Tuesday night. ‘She’s been supporting endless wars since I was a teenager, and I know I had to fight in two of them.’ 

‘Senator Collins, I got blown up while you handed out billions of dollars to defense companies that invested in you. Sorry, that you invested in,’ he continued. 

‘You and your friends profited, my friends died,’ Platner said. 

Democrats are hoping that Platner – an oyster farmer and veteran dubbed one of the ‘rugged guys’ in the 2026 midterms – can win back working-class voters. 

Graham Platner (right) with his wife Amy Gertner (left) onstage at his election night event in Blue Hill, Maine. A sexting scandal almost derailed Platner’s campaign

He’s looking to upset Collins in November, as the GOP aims to hold its margin in the US, which currently sits at 53 seats.

Last week, a poll fromUMass Lowell/YouGov had him at 48 percent to Collins’ 43 percent. And other polls have him up over the incumbent Senator.

Platner  – who was already under fire over a sexting scandal – left a trail of bad impressions with women he dated from both Washington, DC, and his home state of Maine, who spoke to the New York Times in an 11th-hour article released last week.

One woman who spoke about his aggressive behavior in an explosive piece in the New York Times was Lyndsey Fifield, who described several instances of physical intimidation she experienced with Platner. Fifield, who worked for the conservative Heritage Foundation, said the two were in a ‘two-year, on-again, off-again relationship.’

Despite insisting that he ‘never hit me, he never punched me,’ Fifield said that Platner could become aggressive, particularly when alcohol was involved.

She told The Times he would regularly grab her by the shoulders — sometimes leaving marks — and once pulled her from a taxi by her wrist during an argument.

Fifield also recalled an incident in which he twisted her arm behind her back, pushed her into a bedroom, and held the door shut, telling her to stay there until she was ‘calm.’

Reflecting on the encounter, Fifield said, ‘It hurt,’ but also told the Times, ‘It didn’t cause an injury, it didn’t break my arm.’

Platner’s campaign told the Daily Mail in a statement last week, ‘Let’s be very clear: This is a lifelong GOP operative who’s dedicated her career to electing Republicans.’

Another ex, Maine Democrat, Jenny Racicot, 41, described Platner’s behavior to the Times as ‘reckless’ and ‘unsettling.’

‘When I saw the old comments that he made online,’ she said, ‘I recognized a version of him that I had experiences with.’

A third woman, a Maine Democrat who asked not to be named, described the candidate as charismatic at times but also prone to heavy bouts of drinking.

Graham Platner and his wife Amy Gertner

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner and his wife Amy Gertner

She said she felt like ‘collateral damage to the world that is his.’

In a statement shared with the Daily Mail by his campaign, Platner noted last week, ‘Throughout this campaign, I’ve been open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, too often self-medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend.’

‘I take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better. Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated. I’m not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I’ve done since, and the movement we are building in Maine,’ he added.

Platner has faced numerous scandals since last fall, including the revelation of a Nazi tattoo that he has since covered up. Fifield also told the Times that Platner knew what the tattoo meant and called it ‘my Totenkopf.’

Fifield explained to the Times that Platner clearly stated his unit saw themselves as killing machines and drew a parallel with the Nazi Schutzstaffel, or S.S.

‘They literally, deliberately, selected it because it was relevant to their military unit,’ she said.

Controversial Reddit posts also emerged during the course of the campaign, which Platner himself has described as including ‘homophobic slurs, anti-LGBTQ+ jokes and sexually explicit stories denigrating gay men’ to the Advocate last year.

Another recent controversy stemmed from revelations that Platner texted other women sexually while married, and the discovery of a shirtless profile on Kik.

Platner has not denied the texts or the profile, describing the stories as ‘gossip’ and he and his wife have reaffirmed ‘a very happy marriage.’

The Daily Mail also exclusively reported last week that one of Platner’s top advisers, Daniel Moraff, once authored a ‘humorous’ essay that included sexual fantasies with Martin Luther King Jr and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Vermont’s Bernie Sanders and Massachusetts’ Elizabeth Warren are still backing Platner, and House Democrat Ro Khanna spoke at a rally for Platner last weekend.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also told reporters on Tuesday that he met with Platner, adding, ‘we’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate.’

Collins, the only Republican in the race, holds an independent streak that makes her both loved and feared.

She is also a Republican representing a state that was carried by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris in 2024.

In a significant legal development, a federal judge in Montgomery, Alabama, has permanently halted the state’s plan to execute an inmate using nitrogen gas, citing it as a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

U.S. District Judge Emily Marks handed down her decision shortly after an appeals court overturned her earlier ruling that supported the constitutionality of the method. Judge Marks has consequently barred the state from executing Jeffrey Lee, aged 49, using nitrogen gas, just days before his scheduled execution.

This ruling temporarily halts Alabama’s push to implement the contentious execution method it has supported since 2024. However, the matter appears poised to escalate to the U.S. Supreme Court, which has yet to deem any state’s execution procedure unconstitutional.

The office of Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has filed an appeal against the ruling, as stated in a court document released Tuesday evening. The Attorney General’s office has not provided an immediate public statement, nor has the legal team representing Lee commented on the matter.

In her judgment, Marks noted that the appeals court identified a “substantial risk of serious harm” associated with the proposed method. She also concluded that the state could feasibly adopt Lee’s suggested alternative, execution by firing squad, which inmates must propose when contesting execution methods.

“Therefore, Lee has shown by a preponderance of the evidence that the protocol constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment,” Marks wrote.

Marks wrote that her order only blocks the state from executing Lee by nitrogen gas. She noted the state has two other authorized execution methods, lethal injection and the electric chair. She said Lee is “not entitled to an injunction barring the state from executing him using one of those methods.”

Alabama in 2024 began using nitrogen gas to carry out some executions. The execution method involves strapping a respirator to the person’s face and replacing breathable air with pure nitrogen gas, causing death from lack of oxygen. Nitrogen has been used in eight executions in the United States — seven times in Alabama and once in Louisiana. Lee was scheduled to be the ninth person executed with nitrogen.

A three-judge panel from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday set the stage for Tuesday’s ruling. The court said the three minutes that it could take for an inmate to lose awareness is an “intolerable” time frame, “given the suffering that would likely take place under Alabama’s nitrogen hypoxia protocol.”

The decision was welcomed by death penalty opponents and critics of the controversial execution method.

“Three minutes of conscious suffocation is torturous. If that doesn’t violate the constitution, let alone international law, nothing would,” said Bernard Harcourt, a professor at Columbia University Law School. Harcourt represents one of several other Alabama inmates challenging the method as unconstitutional.

The Rev. Jeff Hood, who served as spiritual adviser at two nitrogen execution, said, “I pray that we are witnessing the collapse of this horrific method nationwide.”

Alabama has maintained that the method is constitutional.

In her 26-page ruling, Marks noted the constant litigation over execution methods.

“Were Alabama to adopt firing squad as a method of execution, that method would likely be challenged as well. Indeed, there is likely no method — no matter how humane — that would be immune to constitutional challenge. But the Constitution does not guarantee a painless death, and human life cannot be purposefully extinguished without some risk of pain. The Court, the condemned, and the State must all confront that sobering reality,” Marks wrote.

Lee is currently housed at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore. He was convicted of two counts of capital murder for killing Jimmy Ellis and Elaine Thompson while robbing a pawnshop on Dec. 12, 1998. Prosecutors said Lee entered Jimmy’s Pawnshop with a sawed-off shotgun and shot Ellis, the owner of the store, and Thompson, a store employee.

A jury voted 7-5 that Lee should receive a sentence of life imprisonment. However, a judge overrode that recommendation and sentenced Lee to death. Alabama in 2017 ended the practice of judicial override and no longer allows a judge to disregard a jury’s sentencing decision in death penalty cases.

Tragedy struck Santa Barbara County over the weekend as a high-speed collision with a traffic pole resulted in the deaths of five teenagers, leaving one critically injured. Authorities suspect that the crash, which occurred in Santa Maria, may have been linked to driving under the influence.

The accident shattered the early Sunday morning silence with a loud crash that reverberated through the community. Although investigators are still piecing together the details of the incident, initial findings at the site indicate that alcohol might have played a role, according to Noozhawk.

“Our family’s sorrow is beyond words,” expressed Juana Galvez, whose 17-year-old daughter, Yusbeli ‘Ava’ Diaz—a student at Pioneer Valley High School—was among those who lost their lives in the crash.

Galvez shared on Facebook that Ava was rushed to the hospital, where she fought for her life for nearly an hour before passing away from her injuries.

Remembering her daughter, Galvez painted a picture of Ava as a warm-hearted and affectionate teenager who spread happiness to those around her.

“She will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her,” the mother said..

Another teen killed in the wreck was identified in an online fundraiser as Isabella “Bella” Vigil, who was just 16.

“It is with shattered hearts that we share the tragic and unexpected loss of our beloved Bella, who passed away at just 16 years old following a horrific car accident,” wrote relative Angela Vigil in the fundraiser for the teen published Sunday.

Santa Maria school district spokesperson Kenny Klein confirmed that Ava was a student at Pioneer Valley High School, while another attended Santa Maria High School. A third student from the district was a former Pioneer Valley student who was enrolled in a continuation program, he said

Klein said none of the students killed were set to participate in high school graduation ceremonies that are be held in the district this week. Counseling services will remain available throughout the week, he added.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends, and school communities,” Klein said.

A fourth student who died in the crash attended Maple Continuation High School  in the Lompoc Unified School District, school officials said.

Mourners gathered at a makeshift shrine at the site of the collision at the intersection of South Broadway and Miller Street.

Flowers, balloons, candles, and pictures formed a tribute to the dead teens arranged along a fence near the scene of the tragic accident. More photos and flowers were added to the shrine each day, according to KEYT.

A spokesman for the Santa Maria Police said officers are still investigating the deadly crash.

Karmelo Anthony has been convicted of murder for the deadly stabbing of Austin Metcalf during a high school track event.

The courtroom reacted with shock as his 35-year prison sentence was announced on Tuesday evening. Anthony will have the opportunity for parole after serving half of his sentence.

Earlier that day, the jury had found Anthony guilty of the murder of Metcalf, which occurred in 2025.

As the lengthy sentence was delivered, two women were escorted out of the courtroom. They had shouted “We love you, Karmelo!” in support of Anthony, despite the judge’s prior warning that any emotional disturbances would lead to removal from the proceedings.

It came after the judge had already informed those in the public gallery that anyone having an emotional outburst would be removed from the courtroom. 

Anthony, 19, sobbed and his family burst into tears as the judge read the guilty verdict. His mother had begged a jury to show him ‘mercy’ ahead of sentencing. 

Jurors were then presented with arguments from the defense and prosecution before being sent out to deliberate on the length of his punishment. 

Following Anthony’s sentencing, victim impact statements were read aloud by members of Metcalf’s devastated family including his aunt and the teenager’s father.

Karmelo Anthony (above) was found guilty on Tuesday of murdering Austin Metcalf at a high school track meet in Texas last year. Now jurors must decide his sentence

Metcalf (above), 17, died after Anthony stabbed him with a folding knife last April

An Austin Metcalf supporter holds a sign in front of the Collin County courthouse after the verdict was reached in the Karmelo Anthony trial on Tuesday in McKinney, Texas

Aunt Marlene Needa recalled how she got a call from her sister on the day of the boy’s death.

‘The sounds of the screams from my sister is something that still haunts me til this day,’ she told the court. ‘It was one of the hardest day of my life.

‘There is a void in our family that can never be filled. My daughters often ask why Austin had to die. All i can tell them is that must trust in God’s plan even when we don’t understand it.’

As Needa was speaking, Metcalf’s father could be seen crying in the courtroom all the while Anthony sat and listened, with his head hanging low. 

‘We will never know what he future could have been,’ aunt Needa continued. ‘Why was a young man with his entire future ahead be taken away? We will live with this loss forever.’

Metcalf’s mother, Meghan Metcalf also spoke to give her impact statement while Anthony could be seen in tears.

‘Seeing my loving son, his identical twin, lose the most important person in his life, it crushes you as a mother.

‘Austin was a hugger, and a good one at that. Austin always had a way of bringing people together. He was the peacemaker, the protector,’ Meghan Metcalf recalled.

‘There is a part of him you can never take away from me or anyone who loves Austin. What it meant to be loved by him. It’s the love that I can continue to have in my heart.

‘He was taken from us just as he was starting to really live,’ the slain teen’s mom said as she addressed Anthony directly.

‘You may have just been given a sentence of 35 years behind bars but you can consider yourself lucky because i’ve been sentenced to a lifetime without my son,’ Meghan said.

Metcalf’s father, Jeff, also delivered an impact statement on Tuesday evening. 

‘Since the first day he grabbed my finger, he had my heart.’ 

Killer, Anthony was originally warned he faced between five and 99 years behind bars for knifing Metcalf, 17, at the track event in Frisco, Texas, last year.

But after the verdict was passed at the Collin County courthouse on Tuesday, prosecutors agreed to consider ‘sudden passion’ as a factor when determining Anthony’s sentence.

This is a legal term that allows a criminal to argue they were in an intense emotional state when they committed wrongdoing. It would have reduced Anthony’s murder to a second-degree felony. 

Roach ultimately decided to rule against the sudden passion application and gave jurors the power to put Anthony behind bars for the rest of his life.  

The murder case shocked America, and the discussion surrounding the killing of a white teenager by a black peer quickly became racially fraught.

Anthony, who was 17 at the time, claimed he was acting in self-defense when he stabbed Metcalf with a folding knife after a heated argument under a tent.

His mother, Kala Hayes, begged the jury to go easy on her son as the jury prepared to determine the length of his punishment.

‘He’s my oldest. He’s my firstborn. He will always be my baby. I love him very much,’ she said through tears.

‘I know my son, and he’s very sorry for what he did. Please have mercy on my son.’

The jury deliberated for less than three hours on Tuesday before passing its guilty verdict after the defense and prosecution delivered closing arguments.

Anthony’s lawyers then asked for a private moment with the killer, which was quickly shot down by the judge.

The judge responded that Anthony has been found guilty and is now in the sheriff’s custody. ‘Things move differently now,’ he said.

During closing arguments, prosecutors eviscerated Anthony’s self-defense claim that Metcalf attacked him first and encouraged jurors to find him guilty of murder.

‘What is important is not motive. It’s mindset. Mindset. He took a knife to a track meet,’ Collin County First Assistant District Attorney Bill Wirskye said.

‘[Anthony] of course, felt empowered that he was going to come out on top of any encounter. You don’t get to meet a shove with a stab, especially if you provoke the shove.’

Wirskye added, ‘Why didn’t he just walk away. He could have left the tent at any time. He didn’t. He didn’t abandon the encounter.’

‘The video tells the story, supported by the eyewitnesses and corroborated by the defendant’s actions and words,’ Wirskye said.

Anthony’s defense attorney, Mike Howard, claimed Metcalf had ‘no legal right to put his hands on Karmelo.’

‘Texas law does not require that you wait until you get hit,’ Howard said. ‘In that split second of chaos, you must put yourself in his shoes.’

He also argued that Anthony, who was a student at Centennial High School, was invited to the Memorial High School tent by a fellow student, despite there being no evidence of that.

Anthony’s defense attorneys argued that he had been invited over to the tent where the altercation happened, despite there being no evidence of that

While quizzing the medical examiner, Anthony’s lawyers implied that Metcalf impaled himself on the knife

A person walks around announcing the guilty verdict in the Karmelo Anthony trial in front of the Collin County courthouse on Tuesday

Karmelo Anthony supporters voice their opinions in front of the Collin County courthouse

‘Why would he pick a fight with a kid that’s bigger than him?’ Howard said. ‘Austin and Anthony had never met before. There’s no background.’

He continued, ‘It’s not about race. As much as people on the outside want to make it about that, one or the other. It’s not.’

Over the course of the nearly weeklong trial, jurors were presented with witness testimony from students, coaches and investigators, as well as surveillance footage of the altercation.

Witnesses who were in the tent described Anthony as the aggressor, testifying that Anthony told Metcalf, ‘Touch me and see what happens,’ provoking Metcalf to push Anthony, who then pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the chest.

Prosecutors said Metcalf’s twin brother, Hunter, rushed to his aid as Anthony ran from the scene and later tried to blend into groups of kids who were fleeing the stadium.

Anthony sat motionless in court as police body camera footage from April last year showed Hunter pleading for help after the stabbing.

Hunter shouted, ‘Oh my God. He’s my best friend. He’s my brother.’

He became hysterical as he begged for help and cried out, ‘I can’t do this.’

At one point, Hunter grew incoherent and seemed to be praying out loud.

Jurors gasped in horror after being shown never-before-seen photos of Metcalf’s punctured heart during the trial.

The case shocked America, and the discussion surrounding it quickly became racially fraught. Anthony’s supporters claim he was treated unfairly because he is black

Witnesses who were in the tent described Anthony as the aggressor, testifying that Anthony told Metcalf, ‘Touch me and see what happens’

Supporters for the murdered teen gathered outside the courthouse ahead of the verdict

An emotional Karmelo Anthony supporter is consoled by another outside the courthouse

Supporters for Anthony leant on one another as the guilty verdict was announced

Metcalf was stabbed once in the chest. The knife pierced through his bone in the center of his chest and punctured the right side of his heart, a medical examiner testified.

While cross-examining the medical examiner, Anthony’s lawyers implied that Metcalf impaled himself on the knife.

After his defense lawyers called on six witnesses who offered underwhelming evidence, Anthony opted not to take the stand.

In Texas, defendants have the right to ask a jury to determine their punishment.

It meant that jurors were able to hear evidence from prosecutors and defense attorneys before deciding the sentence.

Anthony’s supporters have claimed he had been treated unfairly because he is black, while critics said those allegations were used to try and distract from the crime.

Twelve jurors and six alternates, who are mostly white, with the exception of three Hispanics, two Asians, and two from the Middle East and India, were selected to decide Anthony’s fate. 

During jury selection, defense attorneys raised a Batson challenge: a legal objection used when it is believed potential jurors were struck off because of race. 

The challenge and jury selection may come into question for possible appeals later in the trial.