Party over purity: US voters unlikely to turn backs on troubled candidates, poll finds

WASHINGTON – Few Americans will abandon their party’s candidate over controversies such as Democrat Graham Platner’s Nazi-linked tattoo in Maine or Republican Ken Paxton’s fraud indictment in Texas, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, highlighting deep partisan divides that make winning paramount.

Two-thirds of party-aligned respondents said they sometimes have to vote for a candidate they do not like just to stop the other party from winning power, according to the six-day poll completed on June 8.

That principle is being put to the test in a Maine primary election on June 9, when Democratic oyster farmer Platner hopes to become a candidate for a Senate seat seen as crucial to Democrats’ hopes of winning a majority in that chamber in November.

In a nationwide poll, just 17 per cent of Democrats familiar with Platner said his tattoo of a Nazi-style skull-and-crossbones would stop them from voting for him if they could vote in Maine’s election.

The same share of Republicans nationwide said they would refrain from voting for Paxton, Texas’ attorney-general who was indicted a decade ago on charges of defrauding investors, if they could vote in the state’s Senate election in November.

Either election could help determine which party controls the Senate, where Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority.

The poll gathered responses from 4,531 American adults nationwide, including 546 Democrats familiar with Platner and 712 Republicans familiar with Paxton. It had a margin of error of 2 percentage points for respondents overall, and 4 points for Republicans and Democrats familiar with the two candidates.

Some 76 per cent of poll respondents, including similar shares of Democrats and Republicans, said they often had to vote for the lesser of two evils in US elections.

Platner has apologised for the chest tattoo, which he says he got while drinking with fellow Marines nearly two decades ago. He said he was unaware the tattoo’s design was associated with Nazis and covered it with another tattoo in 2025 after he launched his campaign.

The Reuters/Ipsos survey was conducted as further scrutiny fell on Platner, including reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with women while he was married.

Platner has apologised publicly for the text messages, while calling reports about them and other past behaviour politically motivated.

Despite the controversies, Platner is seen as a strong contender to oust Republican Senator Susan Collins.

Platner has campaigned with a populist message that Maine has become unaffordable for working-class people, and he has won endorsements from heavyweight allies, including Chuck Schumer, a moderate and the top Democrat in the Senate, and Bernie Sanders, a progressive independent senator who caucuses with Democrats.

Platner’s rise reflects increased political polarisation in America, with voters feeling they “just have to focus on not putting the other side in power”, said Mia Costa, a Dartmouth College political scientist who studies political psychology and partisanship.

While Paxton triumphed in the state’s primary election after winning President Donald Trump’s endorsement, he will face a tough general election opponent in Democrat James Talarico.

After his indictment, Paxton was impeached by the Texas House, and his wife filed for divorce in 2025 on biblical grounds. He has denied all wrongdoing and says the allegations against him are politically motivated.

A wild card in both the Maine and Texas races will be the power of independent voters.

Six in 10 poll respondents who described themselves as unaffiliated with either party said their vote was more likely to reflect their support of the candidate on the ballot.

“The more ‘normie’ candidate, as some people call them, will be trying to prevail among independents by pointing to the flaws of the candidate with issues,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University.

Talarico’s campaign touted on June 8 the Democrat winning the endorsement of Dan Cogdell, Paxton’s former defence lawyer.

Some Democrats, including Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, say Platner has followed in the footsteps of Trump, who also overcame controversy during his political ascent.

“Trump set a new standard,” Warner said on ABC’s “This Week” on June 7. “Whether that low standard is what we ought to proceed with, I think it’s going to be again in the hands of the voters.” REUTERS