Graham Platner, a military veteran and oysterman from a small town near Maine’s Acadia National Park, will run for U.S. Senate as a Democrat, he announced on Tuesday, in an effort to oust Republican Susan Collins, the five-term senator who is expected to run for reelection next year.

A campaign launch video shows Platner, bearded and broad-shouldered with a gruff voice, harvesting oysters and chopping wood as he describes how Maine has become “essentially unlivable for working-class people.”

In an interview Monday with ABC News, Platner said he was driven to run by the growing wealth gap in the U.S., which he said has crippled working-class people in his home state.

“We are moving in a position where regular, working-class people can’t even afford to live in the towns that they were bor

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