Maine Democrats Scramble for New Senate Nominee as Platner Is Mum on Plans

Maine Democrats are scrambling to position themselves as a possible successor to Graham Platner in the Maine Senate race, with just six days to go until the deadline for Mr. Platner to leave the race. Mr. Platner, who has been accused of rape by an ex-girlfriend, has been mum on his plans since denying the rape accusation on Monday. From the start, the Senate race in Maine has been a messy one. Top Democrats all launched campaigns for governor as Senator Chuck Schumer tried to keep the field clear for Governor Janet Mills. Mr. Platner jumped into the race early on, sucking up attention and fundraising dollars, which gave him a massive lead over Ms. Mills once launched her campaign months after he did. Now that Mr. Platner is facing an onslaught of calls for him to drop out, some of those ambitious Democrats who lost the gubernatorial primary want to be their party’s standardbearer to face off against Senator Susan Collins in November.A former state senate president, Troy Jackson, has already formed an exploratory committee to run for the Senate, according to Federal Election Commission records. “This is something I never considered, but if Graham’s stepping away, I am very, very interested and think I’m the best person to replace him,” Mr. Jackson told the Bangor Daily News, the outlet that first reported the establishment of his exploratory committee. Mr. Jackson would be the closest ideologically to Mr. Platner if he were to be the new Senate nominee. The two campaigned across the state together as Mr. Jackson backed Mr. Platner’s Senate bid and Mr. Platner supported Mr. Jackson in the contested gubernatorial primary. Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed both men in their respective races. Some believed that former state house speaker Hannah Pingree, who is now the Democratic nominee for governor, could switch over to the Senate race and allow the state party to choose a new Senate nominee. She made clear on Monday that she had no interest in that proposition, but implied in her statement that a progressive like Mr. Platner should be chosen as the new Senate nominee. “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,” Ms. Pingree said in a post on X Monday. A more middle-of-the-road candidate has also said he may want the Senate nomination if Mr. Platner drops out. Former Maine Center for Disease Control director Nirav Shah, who finished in second place in the gubernatorial primary behind Ms. Pingress and ahead of Mr. Jackson, is calling on the state party to have a transparent process for choosing the Senate nominee. If Mr. Platner does drop out before Monday, leaders of the Maine Democratic Party will vote to pick a new nominee by July 27. “As the Maine Democratic Party determines the nominating process, one thing is clear: it should be transparent and open. Mainers should see and hear directly from the candidates vying to represent our state at the highest level,” Dr. Shah said in a statement Tuesday. He says that any person who seeks the Senate nomination should commit to participating in a televised debate, as well as holding “multiple” town hall meetings “across every corner of the state.”“Defeating Collins means showing up everywhere and speaking with everyone,” he said. On the off chance that Mr. Platner does choose to stay in the Senate race, Democrats will essentially write off Maine as a competitive state for November. Mr. Schumer and the head of Democrats’ campaign operation, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, said Monday that they will not spend one penny in the state if Mr. Platner chooses to remain in the race — a decision that would be a death blow to a Platner candidacy given how much money Republicans are going to spend for Ms. Collins. Republicans now seem so confident in her chances in November that they’ve started recirculating a meme of the longtime Maine senator — a portrait of her sitting on a throne of skulls. Some of Mr. Platner’s earliest and most ardent supporters are also calling on him to go. Senator Elizabeth Warren, who backed Mr. Platner while Ms. Mills was still in the race, called on him to quit on Monday. Mr. Sanders echoed those comments on Tuesday, saying Mr. Platner should suspend his campaign.“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine. In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside,” Mr. Sanders said in a statement.

Maine Democrats Scramble for New Senate Nominee as Platner Is Mum on Plans

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