Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner submitted his official withdrawal from the state’s race July 10 following sexual assault allegations against him that he has vehemently denied.
“My name may have been on the ballot, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine,” Platner’s withdrawal letter read, which he posted on X. “Please consider this notice as my official withdrawal from consideration for this office.”
He leaves the Democratic side of Maine’s U.S. Senate race rudderless four months ahead of the Nov. 3 general election. His dropping out came three days before the July 13 deadline that allows the party to replace him on the ticket.
Maine’s secretary of state released a statement July 10 confirming receipt of Platner’s withdrawal letter.
Top prospects include former Maine state Sen. Troy Jackson, COVID-19-era Maine health official Dr. Nirav Shah, and Maine’s secretary of state, Shenna Bellows.
“The stakes are huge because the Democrats are counting on defeating Susan Collins in order to be able to take back the Senate,” David Schultz, a political scientist at Hamline University, told The Epoch Times.
Democrats need to win four Senate seats this midterm election to gain control of the upper house. The party considers Maine among their primary targets to flip away from Collins, who was first elected in 1996 and is seeking her sixth term.
The Democratic nominee for governor of Maine, Hannah Pingree, called the allegations against Platner “deeply disturbing,” noting that much is at stake this election cycle.
“Democrats need a nominee who can beat Susan Collins in November. Graham Platner is no longer that candidate,” Pingree wrote in a post on X. “Graham Platner tapped into something real—voters hungry for change showed up with real passion and energy. That energy doesn’t have to go away. It needs a new candidate to carry it forward.”
Politico reported on July 6 that 41-year-old Maine resident Jenny Racicot had a sporadic relationship with Platner for more than two years. The woman alleged the former congressional candidate entered her home uninvited and intoxicated in 2021, forcing himself on her despite numerous objections. Racicot told Politico she ended contact with Platner following the alleged incident and did not file a police report.
“We are suspending campaign operations,” Platner said in a video posted on X. “This is incredibly difficult, because I know many will think of it as an admission of guilt. … It most certainly is not.”
Platner and his campaign claimed the accusations were “coached and coordinated” by out-of-state operatives and noted the timing of it a week before Maine’s ballot deadline. Top Democratic lawmakers within his state and out were calling for him to drop the race after the Politico report.
“Enough is enough. graham platner needs to step aside,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) wrote on X.
Other congressmembers who voiced their concerns about Platner following the allegations and demanded he step aside included Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), and others.
Warren, Gallego, and Khanna had campaigned with Platner ahead of Maine’s primary election.
In a New York Times report, Racicot had previously described Platner’s behavior as “reckless” and “unsettling.” She told Politico she did not detail the sexual assault allegation at the time.
The New York Times also published a report last month of other accusations against Platner from Lyndsey Fifield, a Republican strategist who dated him. She alleged the former Senate nominee once twisted her arm and committed other acts of physical aggression, which Platner has denied.
The man has faced much scrutiny over his short-lived political career, including over sexually explicit messages sent to women during his marriage, past online posts, and a tattoo resembling a Nazi SS symbol he claimed he had not understood and had covered up.
