BY: ELIANA JONSHON May 11 2026 BY: ELIANA JONSHON May 11 2026 Graham Platner, Rob Cushman (Waukeag Neck Oyster Co. Instagram) Maine’s far-left Democratic Senate nominee, Graham Platner, has leaned on his career as a “working-class” oyster farmer to cast himself as a blue-collar everyman. His Ivy League business partner is, well, anything but. Meet Robert Cushman III, an elite New England boarding school graduate who has described his habit of drinking “foraged spring water with Redmond sea salt” and reminisced about a “liminal seafood experience” he had in Maine when he was “about four.” He was born in Africa and raised in Canada by a Harvard-educated doctor and public health official and, based on his public statements, appears to be one of the most unlikable people on the planet. After attending the ultra-elite St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire—which costs upwards of $80,000 a year and is the subject of the 2012 book Privilege: The Making of an Adolescent Elite at St. Paul’s School—Cushman studied religion at Dartmouth and then received a master’s degree in food from Tufts. But Cushman provides more to the farm than his advanced degree. His family owns Ingalls Island, which is located about 10 minutes southwest of Platner’s home in the town of Sullivan and is effectively home to Platner’s oyster farm. Platner’s 2021 aquaculture lease application, obtained by the Free Beacon, shows three small farming sites located just off of the island’s shores. Platner testified during the application process that he “has a relationship” with the island’s owners and “has communicated his proposed plans with them.” Another member of the Cushman family submitted testimony “identifying herself as a riparian landowner who supported” Platner’s application. That matters because Maine’s Department of Marine Resources takes into account feedback from such landowners when awarding aquaculture leases and has considered limiting them due to pushback from “homeowners who don’t want to see aquaculture sites from their waterfront properties.” That’s not a concern for Platner thanks to Cushman. “While Platner says he has ‘lived a fairly simple life’ and ‘never been close to money and power’ (despite attending an elite New England prep school), Cushman’s lifestyle sounds more like that of a multimillionaire Silicon Valley founder than someone who ‘enjoys the physical and mental demands of working on the water,’ as the oyster farm’s website states,” the Free Beacon’s Collin Anderson, Peter Hasson, and Alana Goodman write. “Cushman has described his morning routine as follows: ‘I start by hydrating with foraged spring water with Redmond sea salt then seek out direct sunlight or red light (EMR-TEK). If I can, I then do some Wim Hof breath-work in a SaunaSpace followed by a cold shower. If it’s summer, then I take a cold plunge in my modified chest freezer. All this is followed by a somewhat experimental coffee recipe and meditation, journaling and reading.’” Together, Platner and Cushman “appear to lead what is more of a boutique hobby farm … than a business that pays the bills.” Platner’s top oyster client, according to his personal financial disclosure, is the Ironbound Restaurant and Inn, a “casual fine dining restaurant” owned by Platner’s mother. READ MORE: Meet ‘Working-Class Mainer’ Graham Platner’s Oyster Farming Business Partner, an Elite Boarding School Graduate Who Drinks ‘Foraged Spring Water’ and Owns the Island Where the Farm Is Based