Douglas Rooks has been a Maine editor and columnist for 41 years. His biography of Gov. Ken Curtis, “Transformational,” has just been published. He welcomes comment at [email protected].

The end of Graham Platner’s U.S. Senate campaign last week resembled nothing so much as a supernova — the explosion of a political star, leaving behind only a black hole as evidence of what might have been. Whatever else you might think, Platner’s meteoric rise and fall was like nothing ever seen before in Maine politics.

To Platner’s detractors, he was completely unqualified, having never before run for any public office. His claims to working class solidarity were derided because he came from a successful, educated family. Dubious elements of his past were rolled out in a seemingly endless stream.

To his supporters — and in the June 9 primary he received a record-setting vote — Platner was a breath of fresh air, someone who uncannily connected with audiences across the state as few had before. He combined empathetic listening with a keen intelligence to create a sense that, here at last was a Democrat who could get things done in Washington.

Platner campaigned not just against those he called billionaire oligarchs, but against the establishments of both political parties — a risky strategy. When allegations of sexual assault were reported, his support vanished overnight, producing shock and outrage, but also resentment and suspicion.

As the national party had to do in the 2024 presidential race, Maine Democrats face the daunting challenge of choosing a new candidate, without an heir-apparent vice president.

One contender, Nirav Shah, compared the upcoming state conclave on July 25 to a traditional nominating convention, back when the winner was not yet known and delegates debated vigorously, sometimes endlessly, before deciding on a nominee. He’s looking forward to a “festive and fervent” gathering.

Shah makes a strong case. He initially finished first for governor on June 9, but wound up second after ranked-choice votes were tallied. He’s the only Democrat with experience in both state and federal government, and worked for governors of both political parties — notable amid our seemingly ineradicable party differences. 

He seems eager to take up Platner’s mantle minus what Shah called the “horrendous allegations” that felled him — not an easy task. In an interview, Shah discussed how he plans to do that.

Platner’s appeal had three aspects, he said, led by a “bold, progressive vision” for change that Shah said he shares. He’s spelled it out in a detailed policy platform that includes Democratic staples like taxing the rich, but also commitment to a national healthcare system and restored organizing rights for labor that many Democrats still shy away from.

Shah thinks he can match Platner’s “clean, crisp, energetic” way of communicating, and has a similar “outsider appeal” his leading rivals may lack. “Nobody sent me, and I’m not beholden to anyone,” he said. “Lobbyists don’t know my name.”

He’s sharply critical of congressional Democrats’ response to the president’s war against Iran and his militarized immigration enforcement at home. About Democratic leadership, he said, “It would be a very good idea to have some.” Even the “small task” of opposing Trump effectively has eluded them.

And after the killing of a 26-year-old Colombian man in Biddeford by ICE officers on Monday, Shah, himself the child of immigrants, said incumbent Republican Susan Collins can no longer escape accountability. The cornerstone of Collins’ fifth reelection campaign is her seniority and position as Appropriations chair, which she claims brings numerous grants back home to Maine.

“What good is that if you do nothing to stop the abuses we see on our streets every day?” Shah asked. He extensively documents how Collins not only voted to confirm every Homeland Security appointee, but insisted no limits on enforcement be included in appropriations bills — a blank check — even as ICE funding mushroomed from $10 billion to $70 billion annually.

Shah said Democrats need leaders willing “to return to our roots” of a century ago in the New Deal and to use federal programs imaginatively, from changing a fractured healthcare system to “Medicare for all” and incorporating universal childcare and school lunch programs into Social Security guarantees.

He immediately relaunched his town hall meetings, a feature of Platner’s Senate campaign and his own for governor. He’s holding separate “visiting sessions” for former Platner supporters. “They too are disheartened by these allegations, but I tell them, ‘Please don’t become cynical about politics.’”

Particularly now, he sees a need for optimism instead of recriminations, “because it’s the only thing that has ever led to permanent, substantive and lasting change in this country.”

What comes next, Shah said, is “democracy in action, with everyone seeing what usually goes on behind the scenes.” He believes the party is rising to the occasion. We’ll know soon enough if he’s right.