May 13th, 2026
End Citizens United Endorses Graham Platner for U.S. Senate in Maine
Platner rejects corporate PAC money; Sen. Collins has taken the most corporate PAC money in Maine history
End Citizens United (ECU), a leading national anti-corruption organization, today endorsed Graham Platner for U.S. Senate in Maine. Platner is making reform a central focus of his campaign and is part of ECU’s Unrig Washington program for candidates that reject corporate PAC money, support a ban on congressional stock trading, and work to end dark money in politics.
“Graham Platner understands that people in Maine are fed up watching the same politicians make promises while life keeps getting more expensive and nothing changes,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “He’s running a campaign rooted in the belief that Washington will never work for working families as long as billionaires, corporations, and special interests are able to buy access and influence at the highest levels of government. Unlike Graham, who rejects corporate PAC money and refuses to sell out, Senator Collins has never met a corporate PAC check she didn’t like. She has spent decades rewarding her biggest donors in exchange for campaign contributions. We’re proud to endorse Graham, and we look forward to helping expose Senator Collins’ corruption.”
“We're building a movement to get money out of politics and build a government that represents working people, not billionaires,” said Graham Platner. “We don't take a dime of corporate PAC money, and we're going to keep it that way, because our politics has been bought and paid for by billionaires for far too long. It’s long past time to overturn Citizens United and take on establishment politicians like Susan Collins, who have enriched the ultra-wealthy and themselves on the backs of working people in this country. I'm grateful to be endorsed by End Citizens United and to have their support in this fight."
After serving several tours in the military and working as an oysterman, Platner is running for Senate to bring opportunity and investments back to working Mainers. He is running a grassroots campaign centered on rooting out corruption and building an economy that serves working people, not the billionaire class. He has traveled across Maine speaking directly with voters about how corporate money and billionaires are stealing from working people and blocking progress on issues like health care and economic opportunity.
Platner is part of ECU’s Unrig Washington program, where he joins over 200 Democratic candidates in rejecting corporate PAC money, supporting a ban on congressional stock trading, and cracking down on dark money in politics. Learn more about the campaign here.
Meanwhile, sitting Senator Susan Collins was recently named to ECU’s 2026 Most Corrupt List and received a failing F grade on ECU’s Anti-Corruption Scorecard this year. Over the course of her career, she has taken a stunning total of $8.3 million in corporate PAC money –– the most of any politician in Maine history. She opposes commonsense campaign finance reforms like ending dark money, and owned the eighth-most lucrative stock portfolio in Congress in 2024. She has used her position to deliver tax loopholes for private equity firms after being their top recipient of campaign donations for her 2020 campaign.
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For 10 Years, End Citizens United (ECU) has been dedicated to combating the two biggest challenges facing our democracy: the corrosive impact of Big Money in politics and attempts to block access to the ballot box. Since its founding in 2015, ECU has had over 1.4 million donors with an average donation of just $14. The group has more than four million members nationwide and is one of the nation’s leading anti-corruption organizations.