Graham Platner, the military veteran and first-time candidate whose populist message resonated with voters in Maine, prevailed over the state’s governor to win the Democratic primary for Senate on Tuesday. Now, he will face Senator Susan Collins, a vulnerable Republican incumbent, in one of the most consequential races in the country this fall.
Mr. Platner’s campaign has survived a series of scandals about his personal life, which Republicans began highlighting within minutes of his victory. And he used his speech Tuesday night to cast Ms. Collins as a tool of a political establishment that has let Maine down.
In other primaries on Tuesday, Democrats in Nevada picked Aaron Ford, the state attorney general, to oppose Gov. Joe Lombardo, solidifying the matchup in a competitive governor’s race in a key swing state. And Republicans in South Carolina showed their loyalty to President Trump, supporting his preferred candidates in races for Senate and governor.
Here are three takeaways from the night of primaries.
Amid a barrage of scandals, Platner sought to shift to the fall.
Mr. Platner, a Marine veteran who owns a small oyster farm, has been hampered for most of his campaign by scandal, including old, unearthed social media posts in which he made offensive comments about women and rape, and a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol that he has since covered with new ink. The latest controversy came last week, when three women who had dated him told The New York Times that he had engaged in unsettling behavior toward them.
On Tuesday, Mr. Platner attempted to shift the focus to his general-election matchup with Ms. Collins, a battle-tested incumbent, while also acknowledging his stumbles. In a fiery speech, he said that members of the political establishment “keep looking for that one story, that one headline, that one moment in my life that they can define the campaign by.”
He added: “In trying so hard to understand me, they failed to understand that this is not about me at all. This is a movement about us, about the far too many, working far too hard and struggling far too much.”
Still, nearly 30 percent of primary voters cast ballots for other Democratic candidates, according to incomplete results early Wednesday, despite that fact that his main opponent, Gov. Janet Mills, had suspended her campaign. That suggested that some Mainers remained skeptical of him, and left him with the challenge of persuading voters in the general election that Ms. Collins’s shortcomings were greater than his.
In his effort to pivot, Mr. Platner blasted the moderate image Ms. Collins has cultivated, describing her as “only bipartisan when it doesn’t matter” and saying she had failed to protect abortion rights.
“If you are an independent voice, why do you vote with Donald Trump 95 percent of the time?” he said, addressing his opponent directly. “If you’re so bipartisan, why are you the deciding vote to put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court?”
Trump’s candidates advanced or were leading.
Mr. Trump’s backing is usually the gold standard in a Republican primary, all but guaranteeing victory. His record suffered a rare blemish last week when the candidate he backed in the Iowa governor’s race lost the Republican primary.
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump returned to form, with candidates he supported winning their races, advancing to runoffs or leading challengers in races yet to be called. In South Carolina’s crowded Republican primary for governor, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, backed by Mr. Trump, led the field and advanced to a runoff with Alan Wilson, the state attorney general, who was close behind.
In Nevada, two of three House candidates the president backed — Carrie Buck and Marty O’Donnell — won their primaries. The third was too close to call early Wednesday.
Finally, in North Dakota, Representative Julie Fedorchak easily fended off a primary challenge with help from Mr. Trump’s nod.
Lindsey Graham avoided the embarrassment of a runoff.
Mr. Graham, an outspoken Republican who once clashed fiercely with Mr. Trump before becoming a staunch ally, has never been beloved by the MAGA base. He faced a serious Republican challenger, Mark Lynch, and a real chance that he could have been forced into a runoff by failing to earn more than 50 percent of the vote.
But Mr. Graham, too, had Mr. Trump’s backing, and he managed to avoid that embarrassing outcome. After his campaign and allied groups raised and spent millions on his re-election bid, Mr. Graham posted a strong enough showing among South Carolina primary voters to earn a spot on the November ballot. In a deep red state, Mr. Graham will be overwhelmingly favored to win another six years in the Senate.
Bayliss Wagner contributed reporting.
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