LEWISTON- The Franco Center will host a town hall for U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner next month.
The event, scheduled for October 15th at 6 pm, was originally planned to take place at Craft Brew Underground on Main Street in Auburn.
Campaign staffer Galen Herz wrote in an email, “Due to the high number of RSVP’s we’ve received, we needed a larger venue than Craft Brew Underground, so we’ve moved venues to the Franco Center at 46 Cedar St, Lewiston.”
The date and time for the event will remain the same, Herz also stated.
Platner, a Sullivan oyster farmer and veteran of the Marines and the National Guard who served four tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, is running for the Democratic nomination to challenge incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins.
His campaign website states that Platner believes “Maine is becoming unaffordable for thousands and thousands of us” and that it’s because we have a “government by, of, and for billionaires, who are building a ‘billionaire economy’ that none of us can afford.”
“I’m not just running against Susan Collins,” the website says. “I’m running against the billionaire class that owns her and all of Washington.”
Platner has been endorsed by the Maine State Nurses Association, the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, and by independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
Since entering the race, Platner has become somewhat of a national sensation. He has interviewed with several prominent social media influencers, and even spoke at a Labor Day rally in Portland with Sanders and State Senator Troy Jackson (who is himself running for Governor).
In Sullivan, located north of Bar Harbor across Frenchman Bay, Platner serves as Harbormaster and as chair of the planning board.
Platner is one of seven Democrats who are seeking the party’s nomination, which will be decided during the primary election on June 9 of next year.
Collins has held the Senate seat since 1997 and has already announced plans to seek re-election. She currently faces two challengers in her own primary but is widely expected to win the nomination.
The campaign has asked those interested in attending the Franco Center event to RSVP at https://www.mobilize.us/grahamformaine/event/830482/.
The Franco Center has held large political events in the past. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson drew a full house during a stop in Lewiston.