Graham Platner Drops Out Of US Senate Race in Maine

Graham Platner announced that he is dropping out of the US Senate race in Maine after multiple scandals. In a post on X, Platner said he is suspending campaign operations.

Graham Platner announced that he is dropping out of the US Senate race in Maine after multiple scandals. In a post on X, Platner said he is suspending campaign operations. “For the moment to continue, it can’t be me. For that reason we are suspending campaign operations”

“We’re not doing it because of the allegations, we’re doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power,” he continued.

Platner’s decision came after multiple women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct and assault. Former partners Jenny Racicot and Lyndsey Fifield were among those who publicly accused him. Racicot alleged that Platner raped her in 2021, an accusation he has repeatedly denied, calling claims of nonconsensual behavior “categorically false.”

The allegations prompted leading Democrats to withdraw their support. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ruben Gallego and Representative Ro Khanna were among those who distanced themselves from Platner, while Senate Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand said the party would not invest in the Maine Senate race if he remained the nominee. Senator Bernie Sanders, one of Platner’s primary backers, also called on him to step aside.

Platner’s campaign had already been overshadowed by a series of controversies, including reports of a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, offensive old Reddit posts, and allegations that he sent sexual messages to women outside his marriage and behaved in unsettling ways toward former partners.

Platner, an oyster farmer, won the Democratic nomination to face GOP Senator Susan Collins after convincingly beating incumbent Governor Jante Mills in the primary.

The Maine Democratic Party will now hold a convention by July 27 to select a replacement nominee ahead of the state deadline. Democrats view the race as critical to their efforts to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins and regain control of the Senate.

Potential replacements include Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, and former public health director Nirav Shah.

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