Polls close in South Carolina as Maine Democrats weigh controversial Senate candidate

By Fox News · Fox News

Polls have closed in South Carolina, which along with Maine, Nebraska and North Dakota are holding primary elections on Tuesday. One week after President Donald Trump 's endorsement-winning streak in high-profile Republican primaries was snapped, the president's immense clout over his party is facing another key test in South Carolina's GOP gubernatorial and Senate nomination races. But the race grabbing the biggest national spotlight is in Maine, where it's judgment day for Graham Platner, the embattled Democratic Senate candidate in left-leaning Maine who is aiming to oust longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a crucial race that's among a handful that will determine if the GOP holds its slim Senate majority in the midterm elections . Platner, an oyster farmer and military combat veteran who is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and other top progressive champions, is facing a slew of controversies, which could make his expected Democratic primary victory in Maine much more interesting than originally expected. PLATNER TO SUPPORTERS: 'MAINE, YOU HAVE MY BACK' Platner has been playing defense for the past month, amid mounting controversy. It includes inflammatory online comments made on Reddit, a well-publicized and now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol, recent reports that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married and new allegations last week from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes. Platner has called the latest allegations of violence untrue. The negative headlines have triggered some Democrats in the nation's capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods. The candidate this past weekend thanked Maine voters for continuing to support him. "When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public, as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth, Maine had my back," P…