By PATRICK WHITTLE and KIMBERLEE KRUESI

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Democrats are split over the best way to defeat Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, a critical race that will help determine whether the party wins back control of the Senate in this year’s midterm elections.

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Although Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and other establishment figures have lined up behind Maine Gov. Janet Mills, first-time candidate Graham Platner continues to pick up support.

On Monday, the oyster farmer and combat veteran was endorsed by Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, considered one of Democrats’ potential candidates in the next presidential race. It was another sign of Platner’s political resiliency after a series of controversies involving old social media posts and a tattoo he covered up because it resembled a Nazi symbol.

“Since I met Graham a couple of months ago, and from talking to my non-political friends and Marine Corps buddies from Maine, I know Graham can draw people into politics right now who have been really unhappy with the two parties and feel forgotten,” Gallego said in a statement. “Those are the people we need to come out in an election year, and I believe Graham is the only candidate who can really do it.”

Gallego also cited the outbreak of war with Iran, saying the Senate “needs to reflect the experiences and expertise of those who have been the boots on the ground.”

The backing follows endorsements from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, and New Mexico Sen. Martin Heinrich, another Democrat.

Mills’ team said the two-term governor remains better positioned to deliver victory for Democrats in November.

“Governor Mills has broad support from leaders who know what it takes to win tough races because they know she is the leader for this moment, has a record of delivering real progress for Maine people, and is the best candidate to defeat Susan Collins in November,” said Mills spokesman Tommy Garcia in a statement.

Mills also has the backing of numerous other figures in the Democratic Party, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, as well as Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey and three of his predecessors.

The dueling endorsements for Platner and Mills are “emblematic of the divisions we’re really seeing nationwide among Democrats,” said Mark Brewer, a professor and chair of the political science department at the University of Maine. He said some factions of the party are willing to take risks on a candidate like Platner in the current unsettled political environment.

“Platner is definitely the insurgent candidate. His supporters are not only willing to support that kind of unconventional candidate, but willing to embrace that kind of unconventional candidate,” he said.

Platner, 41, and Mills, 78, are vying for the chance to unseat Collins, 73, a five-term incumbent who announced last month that she was running for another term. The Democratic Party needs to net four seats to retake the Senate majority, and they are aiming to do that in Maine, North Carolina, Alaska and Ohio.

Platner has gained traction with his anti-establishment image and economic equality message. He’s also faced questions about a skull-and-crossbones tattoo reminiscent of a Nazi symbol.

According to Platner, he got the tattoo on his chest during a night of drinking while he was on leave in Croatia. He has maintained that he was unaware until recently that the image had been associated with Nazis, and he has since covered the tattoo with a different design.

Mills referenced the controversy Friday, posting on social media that “for what it’s worth, I don’t have any tattoos.”

Platner has received renewed scrutiny recently after reposting and then deleting a comment made on social media by Stew Peters, a radio host who has promoted antisemitism, Holocaust denial claims and conspiracy theories.

Peters had posted about the looming conflict with Iran during President Donald Trump’s recent State of the Union address, criticizing that the war could have bipartisan support.

FILE – Sen. Ruben Gallego D-Ariz., speaks during the “People’s State of the Union” rally outside of the U.S. Capitol, Feb. 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

Platner shared Peters’ comment and added a similar sentiment by writing, “As always, there’s one thing that brings Republican and Democratic politicians together: sending other people’s children to die in stupid wars in the Middle East.” He later deleted his post.

Separately, Platner has been questioned for being a guest on Nate Cornacchia’s podcast in late January. Cornacchia, a retired Green Beret, has also been accused of sharing antisemitic views.

During the Jan. 27 conversation, Cornacchia and Platner largely focused on labor issues and immigration enforcement activities amid the death of Alex Pretti in Minnesota.

Gallego is among the Democrats named as possible 2028 presidential contenders. Last fall, he stumped in New Jersey, Virginia and Florida, where he campaigned for Democrats who went on to win their elections. Gallego was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014.

“I have an immense amount of respect for him and I’m looking forward to joining him as a fellow Marine and combat infantryman in the U.S. Senate,” Platner said in a statement.

Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

By MEG KINNARD

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Across the country, progressives are lighting a fire that they hope will catapult Democrats back to power in Congress this year. But here in a hotel ballroom, the party’s beleaguered moderates have another message — not so fast.

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Leaders at Third Way’s conference talked over and over about how Democrats can’t swing too far left in the midterms, or when picking their next presidential nominee, if they have any hope of winning back the White House.

The title of the two-day, invite-only conference: “Winning the Middle.” And there was plenty of advice on how to do that.

Be plainspoken, not lofty or academic. Don’t live online, but be authentic on social media. Loosen up, and be patriotic without fear that something like the American flag or Pledge of Allegiance has been co-opted by conservatives.

Matt Bennett, co-founder of Third Way, said the organization of moderate Democrats plans to meet repeatedly as the next presidential campaign approaches, convening people who will be influencing and working for Democratic candidates.

“We’re doing it early, and we’re doing it much, much more aggressively than we did last time,” Bennett said. “We’ve got a team in place that is talking every day to the 2028ers.”

Jim Messina, who managed Barack Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012, said Democrats still need to find their footing with voters.

“In 2026, we’re going to win, because we have one great nominee, and his name is Donald Trump,” he said, meaning Trump’s unpopularity sets the stage for Democratic wins in his view. “But we’re going to lose the presidential election in 2028 if we can’t find an economic message that identifies with most people.”

Asked to give Democrats the “brutal truth,” Messina said, “We have no economic message, and if we don’t get one, we’re not going to win.”

The location of the conference was no accident. South Carolina has been pivotal in Democratic presidential primaries, including boosting Joe Biden to victory in 2020. Although a new calendar from the Democratic National Committee won’t be ready for several months, Bennett said Democrats expect the state to remain influential.

“We need to socialize these ideas immediately, so that they can begin to take hold and be widely shared by the time we get to the main part of their primary cycle,” Bennett said.

There was no shortage of stylistic tips at the conference.

“Democrats come across as like professors, academics, elites — I mean, my God, rip off your freaking sport coat and talk to me,” said Joe Walsh, who was a tea party Republican when he represented Illinois in the U.S. House but became a Democrat last year. “Voters in general are just crying out for authenticity.”

But to Walsh, that doesn’t mean taking a cue from those like California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has begun visiting early presidential primary states, including South Carolina. In critiquing Trump on social media, Newsom has taken to imitating the president’s tone, trolling Trump in his all-caps style.

“I think the mimicking and the copying a lot of the Trumpism isn’t the way you’re actually going to reach a lot of folks,” Walsh said. “Voters in general are just crying out for authenticity.”

There were recommendations on the issues, too. A smattering of the more than 100 people in the audience raised hands when asked how many had worked the word “affordability” — the buzziest of campaign buzzwords — into messaging materials.

“I think some of you are lying,” joked Gabe Horwitz, who leads Third Way’s economic program, intimating that the actual number was much higher.

Melissa Morales of Somos Votantes, a Latino voter and civic engagement organization, said Democrats should cut the word out of their campaign vocabulary.

“It barely makes sense in English, and it is a nightmare to translate into Spanish, so can we please call it something else?” she asked.

“They’re not asking us for economic theory, they’re asking us for a set of everyday solutions,” Morales added. “And if we want to connect with them, that’s how we’re going to have to do it.”

Meg Kinnard can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

By R.J. RICO

A triceratops skeleton that stood in a Wyoming museum for decades will be auctioned off, a rare instance of a museum-exhibited dinosaur going to the auction block just as the market for the prehistoric giants has hit record highs.

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The fossil, dubbed “Trey,” will be open for bidding from March 17 to 31 on Joopiter, an online auction platform founded by Grammy-winning artist and producer Pharrell Williams. It has a preauction estimate of $4.5 million to $5.5 million.

Dating back more than 66 million years to the late Cretaceous period, Trey was discovered near Lusk, Wyoming, in 1993 by Lee Campbell and the late Allen Graffham, a commercial paleontologist who made numerous significant finds over his lifetime.

The 17-foot-long herbivore greeted visitors at the 1995 grand opening of the Wyoming Dinosaur Center in Thermopolis, and remained there on loan until 2023.

Having been recently sold in a private transaction, it is now in Singapore, where it is available for private viewings through the end of March, Joopiter said.

Trey “has this cultural aspect that a lot of fossils that go to auction these days just simply don’t have,” said paleontologist Andre LuJan, who worked with Joopiter to prepare the fossil for auction. “This one is connected to people and undoubtedly has inspired young children who’ve seen it to pursue a career in paleontology.”

Once the domain of museums and universities, dinosaur fossils have become increasingly popular investments.

In 2024, the remains of “Apex” the stegosaurus went for $44.6 million at auction, shattering the previous record of $31.8 million paid in 2020 for “Stan,” a Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton.

In a sign that the dinosaur fossil market remains strong, a rare young dinosaur skeleton blew past its $4 million to $6 million Sotheby’s preauction estimate in July and ended up fetching more than $30 million in a bidding frenzy, including fees and costs.

Caitlin Donovan, Joopiter’s global head of sales, said the surging interest reflects a shift away from traditional categories like old master paintings and toward objects that have “cultural resonance.”

“(Dinosaurs) have always captivated our imagination … and people are now starting to see the value in investing in these as assets,” LuJan said.

But the hot market has some paleontologists concerned that important specimens could disappear into private collections, depriving scientists of important research opportunities. Public museums are “getting totally priced out of an exploding market,” said Kristi Curry Rogers, a paleontologist at Minnesota’s Macalester College.

“If a fossil goes into a private collection without guaranteed access forever, that data is essentially lost to science,” said Curry Rogers, who is not involved in the sale.

LuJan emphasized that Trey has always been privately owned, and he hopes it will end up in a museum, just like Apex, which is now on display at New York’s American Museum of Natural History after its buyer signed a long-term loan agreement allowing scientists to study it.

“Because we’ve had this paradigm shift in what owning dinosaurs means to society, people are naturally gravitating toward these benevolent situations where they loan them long-term to museums or they end up donating them to a new museum that’s just being born,” LuJan said.

Until last week, Phanny Phay’s family felt like they never had a chance to tell their story in court.

Phanny Phay (Courtesy of Phay family)

The 28-year-old’s boyfriend, Andre Duprey, was charged with her 2017 murder in St. Paul, and found not guilty by reason of mental illness.

Phay’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Duprey in Ramsey County District Court and a jury last week awarded them $17 million.

It wasn’t about the money, but about seeing some kind of justice and telling Phay’s story, said her family’s St. Paul-based attorneys, Paul Applebaum and Megan Curtis.

“This is a massive verdict, and it reflects the pain that was felt by this family and more importantly the person that Phanny was,” Curtis said.

Phanny Phay (pronounced PAH-nee py) “was a superstar,” Applebaum said. “The first one in her family to go to college, and all she did was take care of everybody.”

Phay received a full scholarship and graduated from the University of Minnesota. She was working in the medical field, and planned to go to medical school and become a pediatrician because she loved children.

“She had just such a bright future in front of her,” Curtis added. “She was from a Cambodian family, and they’re very, very culturally close and tight knit. Her death changed the entire family.”

Found with defensive wounds

Early on Nov. 19, 2017, St. Paul police responded to a Highland Park apartment and found Duprey standing in the doorway of the couple’s bedroom holding a knife. A bloody shotgun was on the bed.

Duprey was chanting, “demon, demon,” and police used force to knock the knife from his hand to get to Phay, but she could not be saved.

An autopsy found Phay had been shot in her head and neck. She had 45 stab wounds throughout her body, her right hand was bruised and she had cuts that appeared to be defensive wounds, according to a criminal complaint. Bruises on her neck were consistent with muzzle imprints.

Phay’s family’s attorneys asked the jury in the lawsuit to award a large amount for her pain and suffering.

Phay and Duprey met at the University of Minnesota, and dated for seven years. He graduated with a degree in political science and previously worked as a legislative aide at the state Capitol.

Duprey, then 29 and an Army veteran, had no significant criminal record in Minnesota.

Thought he was battling a demon

An aunt of Duprey, who was staying with the couple during a visit to Minnesota, said she woke up to a commotion, opened the bedroom door and saw Duprey holding a shotgun to Phay who was crying, according to a court document. She grabbed her 7-year-old daughter and ran to get help.

Andre Antwan Duprey (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)

According to a psychiatric evaluation conducted by a doctor in the months following Duprey’s arrest, the incident was the final scene of an escalating psychotic episode that had been gripping Duprey for weeks.

Soon before Phay was killed, she was texting Duprey’s former foster mother, a mentor of Duprey’s, and Duprey’s cousin for advice.

She wrote to Duprey’s former foster mother, “I think Andre needs to get committed,” and sent her information about “manic episodes,” according to a court document. She told the woman that Duprey had two guns and a knife, and asked how they could get him committed.

The woman told Phay to call 911. Phay responded, “He has weapons. I don’t want them to have a reason to shoot him.”

Duprey thought he was battling a demon when he killed Phay, a doctor concluded, according to court records. Duprey was diagnosed with bipolar disorder with psychotic symptoms after Phay’s death.

A Ramsey County judge agreed with the doctor’s findings, and in 2018 found that Duprey had committed second-degree intentional murder and concluded Duprey was not guilty based on his mental illness.

Family shocked to see him at restaurant

Phanny Phay, right, with her family at the graduation of her niece from high school in 2013. From left to right are Timothy Phay, Phanny’s brother, Soeun Phay, Phanny’s grandmother, Marinny Phay, Phanny’s niece, Alyssa Phay, Phanny’s aunt and Naroeun Phay, Phanny’s mother. (Courtesy of the Phay family)

After Duprey was found not guilty, he was civilly committed as a person who is mentally ill and dangerous to the public. He was sent to the Forensic Mental Health Program, formerly known as the Minnesota Security Hospital, in St. Peter. He was subsequently sent to a group home. He remains under civil commitment, which includes requirements to take medication that’s prescribed to him and receive psychiatric care.

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Phay’s family bumped into Duprey at a restaurant when he’d been moved to the halfway house. They didn’t know he was out of the hospital in St. Peter and they were shocked, Applebaum said.

Timothy Phay, Phanny’s brother who was 18 years her senior, was like a father to her. He filed the wrongful death lawsuit against Duprey in 2024 on behalf of the family.

“Phanny’s story of achievement and compassion was lost in the criminal trial, so the family is pleased that Andre Duprey has finally been held accountable,” said Marinny Phay, Timothy’s daughter, who was closer in age to Phanny, in a statement. “After eight years, the family got justice.”

‘About accountability’

Curtis called the case heartbreaking.

“It’s about accountability,” she said. “The family never had their day in court, so it was about being able to look him in the eye and tell him the pain that he caused the family.”

They sobbed when they testified during the trial in the lawsuit last week, Applebaum said.

“Here’s what this woman was like: She flew to India to help in a hospital delivering babies,” he said. “She didn’t get paid, she went on her own dime, and spent two weeks there working. Then she came back here and volunteered. She was every parent’s dream child” and a source of strength for her family.

Rare civil case

A wrongful death lawsuit in Minnesota after a finding of not guilty due to mental illness is rare, Curtis said. The attorneys could not tell jurors in the lawsuit anything about the criminal aspect of the case.

“The jury’s going to see that he’s out (and in the courtroom) and they’re going to think, ‘What’s this all about?’” Applebaum said, adding he figured they would think he was acquitted.

Still, mental illness is not a defense to a claim of wrongful death when it comes to civil law in Minnesota, jurors were told in instructions about deciding the case.

In Duprey’s legal response to the lawsuit, his attorney wrote he was in a psychotic state at the time, “unable to control his actions or form intent,” and his “actions were unintentional.” His defenses were lack of intent and mental illness, attorney Seamus Mahoney wrote.

Duprey had depression, but “certainly did not think I had mania, bipolar disorder or psychosis,” which he was later diagnosed with, according to his response to the lawsuit. He didn’t seek treatment for depression because he didn’t have health insurance after he left his job with the state of Minnesota.

He started an application for Veterans Affairs medical health benefits in summer 2017 and learned he was approved in the fall of 2017, but said there was a long wait to get appointments and he never used those benefits, his response said.

Mahoney’s argument was that Duprey, now 39, did not remember the incident and couldn’t have formed the intent necessary, according to Applebaum and Curtis. Mahoney could not be reached for comment Monday.

“They were trying to prove to the jury that (he thought) the person that he killed was a demon, it was not Phanny Phay,” Curtis said. “Our position was it doesn’t matter if it’s mistaken identity.”

Jury considered loss of companionship

Jurors were told the elements of a wrongful death were that Phay’s death “was caused by the wrongful act” of Duprey and that he intended to cause the wrongful act, and needed to be proved by a preponderance of the evidence, which a verdict form shows the jurors found.

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For Phay’s pain and suffering before her death, the jury awarded $5 million to her family. The jury decided on an additional $9 million for her family’s loss of Phay’s guidance, advice, comfort and companionship up to the date of the verdict, plus $3 million from the Wednesday verdict to the future.

Duprey was unemployed as of a July court filing.

“We intend to pursue Duprey for the award no matter how long it takes,” Applebaum said. “… It wasn’t an empty legal exercise motivated by revenge.”

Duprey said Monday that his “heart aches for the family” and he thought the verdict was fair.

“I want them to find happiness,” he said, adding that it will take awhile, but he “will work as hard as I can to pay as much of it as possible.”

For help

Help is available in Ramsey County and St. Paul through the St. Paul & Ramsey County Domestic Abuse Intervention Project 24/7 by calling 651-645-2824. Throughout Minnesota, the Day One crisis line can be called at 866-223-1111 or texted at 612-399-9995.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling or texting 988. The Crisis Text Line can be reached by texting HOME to 741741.