With Graham Platner's campaign teetering from an allegation of sexual assault, there's no shortage of people arguing that the 41-year-old Maine oysterman and progressive political neophyte was always too risky for a key Senate race.
However, it's likely more candidates will follow his path in the future. That's because Platner's starburst candidacy followed an increasingly familiar arc that's shown no signs of abating in American politics — the outsider who defies the warnings of party veterans and captures the hearts of primary voters, even as liabilities pile up and complicate the odds of winning the general election. Plus, the rising cost of Obamacare premiums, U.S. Jews divided on support for Israel and President Donald Trump's critique for NATO over Greenland. |
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Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, acknowledges applause at a campaign event Sunday, June 7, 2026, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) |
Analysis: Platner may be done. Voters' hunger for change and willingness to take risks will remain — By Nicholas Riccardi
With so many ways to raise money and draw attention, and so little faith in longstanding institutions, the country remains primed for new waves of anti-establishment campaigns, no matter how erratic.
Platner initially surged onto the scene with a grassroots campaign in defiance of Democratic leadership, who had rallied around 78-year-old Maine Gov. Janet Mills as their best hope of unseating Republican Sen. Susan Collins. But Mills dropped out as Platner consolidated support, weathering a steady drumbeat of revelations over a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, extramarital sexting and controversial social media posts that would have wrecked a typical campaign.
But that changed this week when a former girlfriend told reporters that Platner drunkenly entered her house and sexually assaulted her in 2021, an allegation the candidate denied. Even Platner's most ardent supporters have urged him to drop out by July 13, which would allow the state party to replace him with a new candidate in a must-win race for Democrats who already faced a narrow path to wrest back control of the Senate in November.
Traditionally, political parties avoid this sort of last-minute surprise with an internal system to vet candidates for skeletons in their closets. In addition, people running for national office have often previously served in local or state positions where any hidden baggage would be exposed.
That doesn't happen as much for populists who can bypass party gatekeepers and even base their entire campaigns on not being beholden to political professionals. Read more from Riccardi on anti-establishment campaigns' future. |
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ACA insurers propose double-digit premium hikes for 2027 |
A man walks by an healthcare insurance office in Hialeah, Fla., July 27, 2017, (AP Photo/Alan Diaz,) |
Obamacare premiums surged this year. A new analysis shows it's likely to happen again in 2027 — By Ali Swenson
Many Americans straining to pay for Affordable Care Act health insurance are unlikely to get relief next year, according to a new analysis that shows insurers in the marketplace are proposing a second straight year of double-digit premium hikes.
Across the 77 insurers in the ACA program that have submitted rate filings that are publicly available, the median proposed premium increase for 2027 is 14%, according to Wednesday’s analysis from the healthcare research nonprofit KFF. The insurers cited mounting healthcare costs, federal regulatory changes and the recent expiration of pandemic-era enhanced subsidies as the biggest factors driving premiums higher.
The rise in premiums adds to what already was a significant jump in 2026, when the median rate increase was 20%, according to KFF. While many Americans on Obamacare still qualify for subsidies that protect them from paying the full premiums, middle-class enrollees making 400% of the poverty level or more will face an especially stark increase in costs.
The rate increases come as federal lawmakers have proposed various policy changes to overhaul the expensive U.S. healthcare system, but no comprehensive legislation has amassed enough support to pass. The higher costs are contributing to Americans’ existing worries about overall affordability, a concern that many voters say is front of mind with November’s midterm elections looming. Read more from Swenson on what's next for Obamacare premiums. |
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Latest AP-NORC Poll: US Jews are divided in support for Israel |
Rabbi Levi Shemtov speaks to the crowd before he lights the Menorah during the annual National Menorah Lighting in celebration of Hanukkah, on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana) |
New AP-NORC poll reveals sharp divides among US Jews over Israel and Gaza — By David Crary, Amelia Thomson-Deveaux and Peter Smith As Israel’s actions continue to divide America's Jewish communities nearly three years into the latest war in Gaza, a new AP-NORC poll reveals that some of the biggest gaps are between religious and secular Jews.
The survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research makes clear that for many U.S. Jews, support for Israel remains a bedrock of their religious identity, its existence a guarantee of Jewish self-determination and safety. Yet others — particularly those who identify as Jews through ethnic, cultural or family ties, rather than religion — feel less connected to Israel and judge its actions in the ongoing conflict more harshly.
About 7 in 10 Jewish adults overall identify as Jewish when asked about their religious affiliation, according to the sweeping survey that touched on everything from views on Israel to antisemitism concerns and strains on interpersonal relations. The rest, about 3 in 10 Jewish adults, say they are atheists, agnostics, or have no particular religious affiliation, but still identify as Jewish in other ways.
Israel has been at the center of the turmoil in the Middle East since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that killed some 1,200 people. More than 73,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza since Israel retaliated, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between civilian and militant deaths. Israel’s ongoing offensives have become a wedge issue for Jewish and non-Jewish Americans, leading to protests, raising antisemitism fears and questions about America’s close ties to Israel.
Read more from Crary, Thomson-Deveaux and Smith on the new poll.
View the AP-NORC Polling tracker. |
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Trump criticizes NATO partners on Greenland, defense spending |
Leaders including NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, President Donald Trump, and Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer pose for a photo during the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) |
Trump blasts NATO for rejecting his efforts to claim Greenland as leaders hold a summit in Turkey — By Lorne Cook and Seung Min Kim
Trump took aim at his NATO partners at a summit in Turkey on Wednesday, saying he was unhappy with the alliance for pushing back against his efforts to take control of Greenland and for not supporting his war in Iran.
NATO's European members plus Canada have scrambled to meet the increased defense spending targets Trump has demanded, as the U.S. draws down the number of troops it has in Europe and insists that the continent take more responsibility for its own security.
But Trump reopened old wounds as he arrived at the meeting of 32 NATO leaders by insisting again that the United States should control Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory. He blasted some European countries for refusing to participate in the Iran campaign, singling out Spain as “a terrible partner in NATO” and renewing his threats to cut off trade. Ahead of the summit, Trump said Greenland “is very important” for the U.S. but not for Denmark, declaring, “We need it for protection of the world, not just the United States.” But Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said her country is “ready to defend every inch of NATO including our own territory” in the event of an attack, and would rely on NATO allies to honor their commitment to defend each other. The president's renewed interest in Greenland could put at risk the entire future of NATO, which was founded in 1949 to counter the threat to European security posed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.
The organization is normally focused on outside threats, not threats from within.
Read more from Cook and Kim on Trump's Greenland gambit at NATO. |
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