Platner’s Biggest Supporters Call on Him To Abandon Senate Bid Following Rape Allegation, Saying No One Will Back Him If He Stays

Democrats are swiftly abandoning their nominee for the U.S. Senate in Maine, Graham Platner, after he was accused of rape by a former girlfriend on Monday. Mr. Platner says he is reflecting on his candidacy, though he has not yet dropped out of the race. Mr. Platner captured the attention of national Democrats over the course of the last ten months, with many viewing him as the kind of small-town, populist candidate that the party needs after their devastating 2024 loss. With scandals mounting and Democrats facing questions about his fitness for office, the rape allegation is what is finally forcing lawmakers to abandon the Platner campaign. On Monday, a former girlfriend, Jenny Racicot, claimed in an exclusive interview with Politico that Mr. Platner raped her in 2021. Mr. Platner denies the allegation, though Ms. Racicot’s claims were reportedly corroborated by another former ex-boyfriend and her therapist, both of whom learned of the alleged sexual assault long before she went public with her allegations. The ex-boyfriend, who declined to be named in the article, confirmed that Ms. Racicot told him about the alleged rape years before Mr. Platner announced his Senate campaign. In a video statement posted to X on Monday, Mr. Platner said he will take some time to “reflect” on the future of the campaign, implying that he may drop out of the race. If he suspends his campaign before the end of the day on Monday, the Maine Democratic Party will have the chance to choose a new Senate nominee before the end of the month. After the alleged sexual assault was first reported, top Democrats who had backed Mr. Platner began calling on him to step aside so another candidate could take his place. “With so much at stake, the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside as the Democratic nominee and address these serious allegations outside this Senate race,” Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the few lawmakers on Capitol Hill to endorse Mr. Platner during his contested primary with Governor Janet Mills, said Monday. The minority leader, Senator Chuck Schumer, and the chairwoman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee — the campaign arm of Senate Democrats — Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, said Mr. Platner should quit the race. They said that if he chooses to continue his campaign, Senate Democrats will not spend one penny helping him in his effort to unseat Ms. Collins. The top three officials of the state’s Democratic party — chairman Charlie Dingman, vice chairwoman Imke Schessler, and executive director Devon Murphy-Anderson — also called on Mr. Platner to step aside. They say that it is now up to the party to choose a new nominee to face off against Senator Susan Collins in November. “We are entrusted with deciding who represents our values and who carries our banner. That responsibility requires judgment, leadership, and a willingness to act when circumstances demand it,” they wrote in a statement Monday. The chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin, echoed those comments, saying in a post on X that the state party’s leadership must choose someone else. If Mr. Platner does drop out of the race, there are a number of names floating around to replace him. Even though the sitting governor, Ms. Mills, was unable to beat Mr. Platner in the primary, there was a large bench of Democratic candidates who eschewed a run for the Senate, opting instead to run for governor. Now that the gubernatorial primary is settled and former state house speaker Hannah Pingree is the party’s nominee for governor, some are looking to other former gubernatorial candidates to succeed Mr. Platner. Many believe that the candidates who have recently faced voters — even if unsuccessfully — would be a better choice than someone who has not recently sought public office. One of those potential replacements is former state senate president Troy Jackson, who came in third place in the gubernatorial primary. He — like Mr. Platner — was endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders and other progressives in his run for governor. Ms. Pingree was seen as a potential option to flip to the Senate race given the recent vote of confidence she won from her fellow Maine Democrats, though she made clear in a statement on Monday that she would do no such thing. She called on the state party to choose a progressive leader with views similar to Mr. Platner’s — which some took as a sign that Ms. Pingree wanted Mr. Jackson to be the new nominee for Senate. “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 statement.

Platner’s Biggest Supporters Call on Him To Abandon Senate Bid Following Rape Allegation, Saying No One Will Back Him If He Stays

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