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WASHINGTON — Lefty Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner trekked down to the Big Apple last month for a fundraiser with Brooklyn-based jewelry designer Alexis Bittar, who crafted luxury products for Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, Dua Lipa, and other liberal celebs.
The oyster farmer and self-styled ardent foe of the billionaire class attended the April 23 fundraiser at Bittar’s house to rub elbows with wealthy filmmakers, actors, and other elite New Yorkers last month.
Platner’s Big Apple visit came just before his top Democratic primary rival, Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) dropped out of the race, paving the way for an expected general election showdown with incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine).
“Chillin with this guy who hopefully will be the next Senator of Maine..a State [I] love, dearly,” Bittar posted on Instagram with a photo of a smiling Platner.
Bittar claims to have spent three months of the year in Maine since he was a child and predicted that Platner will “go far” in the new progressive movement.
The luxury brand guru hasn’t been shy about weaving political or cultural messaging into his marketing strategies, such as the “Bittarverse” web series that’s touched on trangenderism, racism, elitism, and other hot-button issues.
Last year, Bittar helped release the “Reclaim the Flag” documentary during which he lamented that the Stars and Stripes turned into a “symbol of aggression.”
“It’s become such a symbol of aggression, the American flag, like ‘we’re coming for you’ during Trump’s era. How tragic is this, like this is where we’re at that the ultimate symbol of the United States, is now used as a weapon to bifurcate?” Bittar said, per Forbes.
“…Yet there is no other country I’d rather raise my kids in,” he added. “We need to fight.”
The jewelry designer, who’s been described as having a “cult” following among celebs, recalled telling Platner that it’s “crazy” progressives are thought of as “far left.”
Financial disclosures indicate he’s maxed out donations to Platner’s campaign. Bittar also previously donated to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), former President Barack Obama, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“I have been following Graham’s career and struck by his campaign policies, he is a Progressive Democrat, no corporate funding, pro union in the age of technocrats and large corporations who are taking more control, universal medical care,” he posted on Instagram.
Last year, Bittar led a “high-end fundraiser” for Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Platner’s triumph over Mills before the June 9 primary election in Maine rocked the Democratic establishment. Maine is widely seen as the Democrats’ top Senate pickup opportunity in the 2026 midterms.
The former Marine’s history of inflammatory Reddit posts, slash-and-dash style of politics, and controversy over a tattoo he claimed to have gotten while drunk in Croatia in 2007 depicting a Totenkopf or “death’s head” that was used by the barbaric Nazi SS secret police force, has given the party’s bosses pause.
Platner has since inked over that tattoo with what he’s called a “Celtic knot with some imagery around dogs” and claimed it was an honest mistake — that he didn’t realize he had a Nazi-linked tattoo on him.
English (US)