Platner unveils anti-corruption agenda, cites Collins Rule

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner unveiled a sweeping anti-corruption policy agenda on Thursday, June 25, 2026, directly challenging incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins outside her Portland office. The proposal includes a measure named after Collins, accusing her of using her office to direct federal money to a lobbying firm that employed her husband.

Platner’s campaign alleges that Collins funneled more than $76 million in federal contracts to Jefferson Consulting Group, where her husband, Tom Daffron, worked for a decade. The campaign cited a list of contracts awarded to the firm by multiple federal departments, including Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Veterans Affairs, compiled from the USA Spending website.

Collins’s campaign manager, Steve Abbott, forcefully denied the allegation, calling it a lie and stating that Collins has never funneled any money to her husband. Abbott emphasized that the executive branch, not Congress, awards federal contracts. In response to the claim, Platner proposed what he termed the "Collins Rule," which would require senators to recuse themselves from votes involving agencies from which their spouses could...