Maine Democrat candidate Graham Platner is refusing to drop out of the Senate race after being accused of rape unless he gets to approve his successor, the New York Post reported Tuesday.
The political winds shifted decidedly against the Maine Democrat Monday, after the latest sexual abuse allegations dropped in POLITICO.
A woman who once dated Platner, a fellow Democrat, told the outlet that he broke into her house and “forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections.”
Platner called the allegations “categorically false,” but stated he would be pausing his campaign nonetheless.
“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting and mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we’re taking time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” he said Monday afternoon.
By the end of the day, despite Platner’s denials, virtually every congressional Democrat was on the same page, calling on him to drop out.
Now, according to a source with knowledge of Platner’s campaign, the candidate, his campaign and Democrat strategist Morris Katz are discussing a plan for him to drop out “only if his replacement shares his left-wing values.”
Katz, a former advisor to Socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign, is described in the Washington Free Beacon as a “26-year-old Nepo Baby Theater Kid.”
Mamdani is one of a growing number of Democrat officeholders who has publicly called on Platner “to drop out of the race” in the past 24 hours.
If the Democrats seem suspiciously unified in their messaging since the POLITICO story dropped, it’s because they have only until Monday to replace Platner on the ticket, according to state election law.
“If Platner voluntarily withdraws by 5 p.m. on July 13, the Maine Democratic Party would have until July 27 to select a replacement nominee,” the Maine Wire explained. “If he remains in the race beyond that deadline, Democrats will be unable to replace him on the November ballot.”
But Katz, according to the Post, is recommending that Platner stay in the race. The candidate “appears to be holding the Democratic Party hostage,” the Post said.
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“His team is delusional,” the source declared, adding that Platner seems to think “whoever might replace [him] would want a rapist’s endorsement.”
Katz disputed the Post’s reporting Tuesday, stating on X, “To be very clear, no one in campaign deliberations or familiar with my thinking is talking to the NYP.”
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Platner’s biggest backer until yesterday, reportedly wants former Maine senate president Troy Jackson to replace Platner for the Democrat nomination.
Jackson, a fellow leftist who previously endorsed Platner, seems to check all the boxes.
The logger-turned-lawmaker appeared with Platner and Sanders at a “Fight the Oligarchy” rally in May and recently came in third in the state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary.
Both Maine Dems have backed higher taxes on billionaires and a “Medicare for All,” single-payer health care system — with Platner leaning more into foreign policy issues and denouncing US support for Israel as “shameful.”
Jackson has already submitted a filing with the Federal Election Commission to set up an exploratory committee to replace Platner on the 2026 ballot, the Bangor Daily News reported.
“This is a ‘testing the waters/exploratory’ committee,” the July 7 filing stated.
Maine Democrats have also launched a “Draft Troy” website touting Jackson as a “proven progressive,” and citing his blue collar credentials as a “logger by trade and a champion of working people.”
Other contenders to replace Platner reportedly include Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former CDC Director Nirav Shah, and Congressional hopeful Jordan Wood.
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