Can Democrats Still Take the Senate?

**Abby Livingston** (0:01)
I think it's a real moment of uncertainty. It certainly feels like momentum is with him, and it's with the Democrats. But there is just a big open question of what else is out there with him, and how that will play with women voters in Maine, who make up a large part of the electorate.

**Peter Hamby** (0:17)
Welcome to The Powers That Be Daily, Puck's podcast focused on the intersection of Wall Street, Washington, Silicon Valley and Hollywood, and the players who run it all. I'm Peter Hamby. It's Thursday, June 11th. Today, I'm joined by Abby Livingston to handicap the Democrats' chances of taking back the Senate. First, we're going to give you the hopeful case and walk through what's breaking the Democrats' way in states from New Hampshire to Alaska. We're also, though, going to dig into reasons for skepticism, from Graham Platner's rocky campaign in Maine, to the question of whether Dems can actually win Senate seats in states that Donald Trump won by double digits just two years ago. We'll discuss all that and much more on today's episode of The Powers That Be.
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Happy Thursday, everybody, and welcome to The Powers That Be. Happy World Cup kickoff day for those who celebrate the greatest game in the world. We're very excited here at The Powers That Be. I'm joined today by my colleague, Abby Livingston, to talk about politics, and we're gonna do something fun. The Bear Case for Democrats taking the Senate, and the Bull Case for Democrats taking the Senate. It's a very hard Senate map for Democrats. Many things are kind of falling their way right now. Donald Trump is super unpopular. Just yesterday, he said in a extremely garbled and weird way that he loves the inflation, which will surely surface in some television ads, but there are also some speed bumps. We'll start, Abby, with the biggest story probably in the Senate discourse, and that would be Graham Platner. Abby, good to see you.

**Abby Livingston** (3:26)
Good to be here, Peter.

**Peter Hamby** (3:28)
Let's start with Maine. I mentioned roadblocks. Democrats, especially Democrats in Washington, are worried about winning Maine. One, because they have to win Maine, and two, because Susan Collins is a survivor, and three, because as you know by now, there are negative stories about Graham Platner's personal life that continue to percolate his tattoo, the Reddit posts, his relationships with women. But he won the Maine Senate primary with 70% of the vote on Tuesday.
30% of voters so far, they're still counting the votes. Maine takes a long time, lots of rural pockets up there. 30% of voters voted for somebody else, including Janet Mills, who wasn't even on the ballot. That's not a deal breaker. But if you're a Republican, you're going to want to poke some holes in that 30%.
Republicans also released a bunch of negative material on Graham Platner the morning after he won the primary. But Maine figures so prominently on the map, because you have to win Maine. You have to flip it. It seems like a state that Democrats can get. But then if you don't win, then you've got to go win in Texas, in Iowa, in Alaska, in Ohio, harder states. So Abby, what's your sort of macro take right now on Graham Platner, Maine, and where it all comes together when it comes to Democrats taking back the Senate?