Senate Hopeful Graham Platner Cozies Up To Good Friend Somali Lawmaker

At a "Tax the Rich to Fund Health Care" rally on Tuesday in South Portland, Platner was introduced by state representative Deqa Dhalac, a headscarf-wearing lawmaker for Maines 120th district and a prominent figure in the states diversity, equity, and inclusion apparatus. According to the Washington Free Beacon, Dhalac, who previously worked for Gateway Community Services Maine, took the stage to hail Platner as the states "next senator."

"I was not planning on speaking or saying anything, but I am proud to introduce our next senator in the United States, Graham Platner," Dhalac told a packed community center in South Portland, where she served as mayor from 2021 to 2022. She has also been a leading advocate for statewide "racism" awareness campaigns and DEI initiatives that critics say prioritize identity politics over accountability and fiscal restraint.

January 08, 2026

Maine is home to an estimated 10,000 Somali immigrants, a sizable community that, while smaller and less nationally visible than Minnesotas, has nonetheless been dogged by allegations of Medicaid abuse. Those accusations, and the investigations now swirling around a key Somali-led nonprofit, appear to pose no concern for Platner, who is running as an avowed radical in a Democratic primary that could determine the balance of power in the U.S. Senate.

Platner, a self-described communist who once displayed a neo-Nazi tattoo, is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a long-serving moderate who has often been a bulwark against the lefts most aggressive policy ambitions. Platner described Dhalac as a "very good friend and a longtime fighter for justice and decency," signaling that he views her as an asset rather than a liability despite the cloud over her former employer.

Gateway Community Services Maine, where Dhalac served as assistant executive director from May 2022 to March 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile, is now the subject of federal and state probes into alleged financial misconduct involving MaineCare, the states Medicaid program. The nonprofit, founded by a Somali immigrant and boasting two Somali-born board members, markets itself as a provider of "wraparound services"including health care, job placement, and social servicesfor immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers.

Last month, congressional and federal authorities opened investigations into Gateway Community Services Maine amid claims of systemic billing fraud that could amount to millions in taxpayer losses. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee named Dhalac as a person of interest in its request for Treasury Department records tied to Gateway and related nonprofits, while the Department of Homeland Security launched a separate inquiry into the groups hiring practices.

Although Dhalac has not been formally accused of wrongdoing, a former Gateway billing specialist has alleged that the organizations questionable practices intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. That whistleblower account raises uncomfortable questions about the intersection of pandemic-era federal largesse, lax oversight, and the progressive nonprofit sectors appetite for public money.

Christopher Bernardini, who worked for Gateway from 2018 to 2025, told a reporter last month that the nonprofit billed MaineCare for services never rendered by falsifying client records. Bernardini further alleged that Gateway, which received $28.8 million in MaineCare payments between 2019 and 2024, misused Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds by doling out bonuses and keeping no-show employees on the books.

Federal data show that Gateway Community Services Maine and its affiliated entity, Gateway Community Services, collected $700,000 in PPP funds during the pandemic. State investigators have also flagged more than $662,000 in MaineCare overpayments from 2015 to 2018, along with an additional $1.07 million between March 2021 and December 2022, suggesting a pattern of financial irregularities that predates COVID-19 and continued well after.

A financial disclosure reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon indicates that Gateway Community Services Maine paid Dhalac nearly $26,000 in 2023 while she was serving in the state legislature. The same record lists her as working 40 hours per week for the nonprofit while simultaneously holding public office, a dual role that raises concerns about conflicts of interest and the seriousness with which she treated her taxpayer-funded responsibilities.

Beyond her work at Gateway, Dhalac also cofounded Cross Cultural Community Services, a nonprofit that "tackles ... racism as a public health issue" and "partners with companies, schools, and institutions to create customized DEI training, cultural competency development, and strategic equity planning." Such ventures have become lucrative in the era of institutionalized DEI, often funded by public and corporate dollars with minimal transparency or measurable outcomes.

Republican lawmakers in the Maine House of Representatives last month urged Democratic leaders to remove Dhalac from the Legislatures budget committee, citing the ongoing investigations and her financial ties to Gateway. Their request underscores a broader conservative concern that those who help oversee public spending should not be entangled with organizations under scrutiny for misusing taxpayer funds.

"Any accusations that I participated in illegal activities aren't just unequivocally falsethey are also reckless and harmful," Dhalac said in a statement defending herself. "I take seriously the state's responsibility to serve as a good steward of taxpayer dollars, and I support the investigation to hold accountable any individuals who misuse public funds."

Dhalacs alliance with Platner is not limited to a single rally. She also spoke and marched alongside him at a December 13 event in Lewiston, Maine, organized by Safiya Khalid, another Somali-born left-wing activist and former Gateway Community Services Maine employee who has likewise built her profile through progressive organizing.

Khalid held a leadership role at Gateway, which promoted her as part of a "dynamic duo" hired in 2019 and highlighted her work on its "COVID-19 Youth Coalition." At the Lewiston event, Platner lavished praise on her organizing efforts, saying, "Safiya, thank you. All of us would not be here without your organizing skills," and adding, "We are in your debt."

"Mainers know that the Somali community is part of the State of Maine," Platner continued, accusing President Donald Trump and Republicans of disparaging the states Somali community. His remarks reflect a familiar progressive tactic: framing legitimate concerns about fraud and accountability as attacks on immigrants, rather than as efforts to protect taxpayers and preserve the integrity of public programs.

Khalid has maintained ties to Gateway since leaving the organization in 2022, further blurring the line between activist networks and the nonprofit under investigation. She went on to found Community Organizing Alliance, a civic engagement group that shares an office address with Gateway Community Services, and Gateway founder Abdullahi Ali served on the alliances board.

Dhalac promoted the December 13 rally on her Instagram account, sharing a flyer that declared, "Our community is hurting after the racist and dehumanizing attacks against Somali Americans. This moment demands courage, solidarity, and love. We refuse to be silent. We refuse to allow hate to define who we are." That messaging, while emotionally charged, sidesteps the central issue: whether taxpayer-funded entities tied to these activists have engaged in systematic fraud.

Platner and Dhalac did not respond to requests for comment, leaving voters to weigh the available public record and the investigations now underway. As Democrats in Maine rally around a candidate who calls himself a communist and embraces allies linked to a nonprofit under federal scrutiny, conservatives are likely to argue that the race is becoming a referendum on fiscal responsibility, the rule of law, and whether identity politics should shield political favorites from hard questions about how public money is spent.