Senate Candidate Platner Pledges to Reject Health Sector Donations After Fundraising Event
TL/DR –
U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner fundraised with health care lobbyists in Washington, then signed a pledge to reject future campaign donations from the sector. Platner is the first Maine federal candidate to sign National Nurses United’s “Patients Over Profits” pledge, promising to refuse over $200 donations from corporate health care industry executives, lobbyists, and political groups. Platner’s 2025 campaign took in at least $12,000 that may fall under the pledge, including from a private health care company owner, but his campaign insists attendees at fundraising events were not there to lobby him.
U.S Senate Candidate Graham Platner’s Fundraising and Pledge Controversy
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate, Graham Platner, held a fundraising event with health care lobbyists prior to signing a pledge to decline campaign contributions from the industry.
Platner, a Sullivan oyster farmer and frontrunner in the race against Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, advocates for dismantling monopolies in the health and pharmaceutical sectors and prohibiting prescription drug ads. His rivals include Gov. Janet Mills and 2024 U.S. Senate nominee David Costello.
Platner recently supported the National Nurses United’s “Patients Over Profits” pledge, becoming the first Maine candidate to publicly reject donations exceeding $200 from corporate health care industry affiliates. However, this announcement followed a Washington-based coffee fundraiser co-chaired by sector lobbyists, including former Democratic congressional aide Joshua Hurvitz who represented corporate giants like Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, and PhRMA.
Despite his stance against lobbyists, Platner’s platform and fundraising strategy have helped him outperform Mills in polls and fundraising. His campaign amassed donations from wealthy insiders and outperformed both Mills and Collins in fundraising efforts during the latter part of 2025.
Regarding his past associations with lobbyists, Platner stated, “I’ve been in rooms with lobbyists at a fundraiser. Lobbyists come to public fundraisers.”
Registered nurses at Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, which recently averted a planned strike by reaching a tentative three-year contract agreement with its nurses union, joined Platner as he signed the pledge. According to Erin Oberson, a union-active nurse at the Bangor hospital, the pledge is future-focused, targeting large hospital corporations, Big Pharma, and their associated PACs and executives who perpetuate a “broken, profit-driven health care system.”
Platner’s campaign accrued at least $12,000 in 2025 which may fall under the pledge. Notably, this included $6,000 from Arnold Richman, owner of Brightview Senior Living, a private health care company. These contributions constitute a minor portion of the Platner campaign’s fundraising earnings, which rose to $4.6 million in Q4 of 2025.
He maintains his stance on Medicare for All and the dissolution of monopolies, despite these controversial donations.
While Gov. Mills’ campaign emphasizes reducing costs, Medicaid expansion, and insurance market establishment, Platner has called for free and convenient mental health care as part of his health plan.
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