Source: Politics
GORHAM, Maine — The dam has broken on Graham Platner’s candidacy.
Democratic leaders in Maine and Washington, along with a growing pack of Platner’s close supporters, abandoned his Senate campaign on Monday after POLITICO reported that a woman who dated him said he forced her to have sex with him. Platner called the allegation false.
Just hours after the story published, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on Platner to “immediately withdraw” as the Democratic nominee in the Maine Senate race. The battleground contest is crucial for Democrats’ chances of winning the Senate in November.
Schumer was joined in that statement by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which said last week it was in the process of opening a joint fundraising committee with Platner. On Monday the committee said it would no longer invest in the race if he stays on the ballot.
Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, which had been fundraising with Platner, said Monday that it was “time for him to end his campaign.”
A flood of Democratic senators joined Schumer and Gillibrand in condemning Platner. Some of his biggest backers — Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) — called on him to exit the race, as did Sens. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.). Another staunch supporter and potential 2028 presidential hopeful, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, withdrew his endorsement. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who had expressed support for Platner last month, said Monday he “cannot support his candidacy.”
Meanwhile, one of Platner’s most prominent Senate backers, Bernie Sanders, has yet to comment on the news.
The money that would be crucial to Democrats’ hopes of flipping the seat also immediately dried up. Key outside groups organizing on his behalf, including VoteVets, which elevates former veterans as Democratic candidates, and the progressive good-governance group End Citizens United, rescinded their endorsements Monday. Senate Majority PAC, the top super PAC supporting Senate Democrats, said it is “redirecting resources away from the Maine Senate race in light of the latest allegations.”
The exodus of Democratic support marks a significant break from how the party has responded to the previous scandals and controversies that have dogged his campaign. Many Democrats defended Platner — or otherwise begrudgingly accepted the success of his campaign — even after his history of offensive online comments, his tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol, and accusations of past mistreatment of women came to light.
Democrats who had hoped to nominate Maine Gov. Janet Mills coalesced behind Platner after she dropped out of the race, leaving Platner effectively uncontested in the primary, which he handily won last month.
Their reversals now come after 41-year-old Maine resident Jenny Racicot told POLITICO Platner entered her home uninvited in 2021 and forced himself on her without her consent. Platner denied the allegations.
But some Maine Democrats have begun to scramble in the wake of the report, amid the tidal wave of calls for Platner to leave the race: If he withdraws before next Monday, Maine law allows the state party to select his replacement.
Former Democratic gubernatorial candidates Troy Jackson, a Bernie Sanders-endorsed progressive, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former public health official Nirav Shah are taking calls about replacing Platner, according to three people familiar with those conversations, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive discussions.
Maine Democratic nominee for governor Hannah Pingree also called for Platner to exit the race.
“Graham Platner tapped into something real — voters hungry for change showed up with real passion and energy,” Pingree said in a statement. That energy doesn’t have to go away. It needs a new candidate to carry it forward.
Following POLITICO’s reporting, Platner said he is “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward.” That’s left some Maine voters in limbo, including those who backed him throughout the myriad of scandals his campaign has already endured.
Platner’s campaign suspended a handful of events on Monday, forcing a campaign volunteer to explain to attendees that Platner wouldn’t be arriving.
Tracey Lewis, a 32-year-old from Standish, Maine, said she showed up to the canceled event because she wanted to hear how Platner would respond to POLITICO’s reporting.
“I was planning on coming anyway, but I was looking forward to hearing if anything about this new news would be discussed,” she said.
A handful of Maine voters like Lewis said in interviews Monday that they were willing to stick by Platner and hear him out — for now — even as some of Platner’s most vocal progressive supporters called for him to drop out, calling the latest allegations a “betrayal.”
Emma Vigeland, co-host of the popular progressive show The Majority Report, was one of the first prominent supporters to publicly break with Platner after the report. She told POLITICO in an interview the allegations were “credible and troubling and devastating.”
“It is incumbent upon all of us on the left to treat these allegations with the seriousness that requires and take the reporting seriously,” said Vigeland, who has campaigned for progressive candidates this year. “I do think that he should drop out.”
Vigeland said that her support had been for Platner’s platform, not him personally, and said there was “a sense of betrayal” because he had “promised that there was nothing new that was coming.”
Jordain Carney, Andrew Howard, Adam Wren and Erin Doherty contributed reporting.
Read MorePolitics, 2026 Elections, Graham Platner, Maine