(FILES) US Senator Susan Collins, Republican from Maine, speaks as she questions Jayanta Bhattacharya during a US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing on his nomination to be Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, on March 5, 2025. Democrats' hopes of winning a key Senate race now appear to rest with a gruff oyster farmer and ex-Marine named Graham Platner who was virtually unknown a year ago. Platner, 41, will seek to oust long-time Republican Senator Susan Collins in November's midterms after his rival for the nomination, Maine Governor Janet Mills, unexpectedly dropped out on April 30, citing a lack of funding. Winning Maine's senate seat is a prime goal for Democrats who hope to wrest control of Congress from Republicans. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)