Graham Platner’s victory reveals a winning midterms playbook | Pepper Culpepper

Voters want someone they trust to change the economic deal

Graham Platner's victory in the Maine Democratic primary, despite controversies that would sink more conventional candidates, shows us that voters are not simply rejecting incumbents. They are responding to candidates - even those with pretty dire baggage - who speak to a widespread belief that the economic system is increasingly rigged in favour of billionaires and large corporations.

In my research with Harvard professor Taeku Lee, based on surveys of more than 36,000 voters across the US, UK, France and Germany, we see a hidden wave of voter opinion that is hostile to big corporations and billionaire influence.

Pepper Culpepper is professor at Oxford University's Blavatnik School of Government and author of Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How It Could Save Democracy