{"id":3671,"date":"2026-07-07T23:08:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3671"},"modified":"2026-07-07T23:08:55","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T23:08:55","slug":"rape-allegation-shatters-graham-platners-far-left-base-puts-his-campaign-on-death-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3671","title":{"rendered":"Rape allegation shatters Graham Platner\u2019s far-left base, puts his campaign on death watch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Graham Platner is running out of friends.<\/p>\n

The same left\u2011wing coalition that helped turn him into a rock star in Maine\u2019s U.S. Senate race abandoned him Tuesday in the wake of a rape allegation that has thrown into turmoil the Democratic Party\u2019s plan to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins.<\/p>\n

Read more Hill staffers want to readdress sexual misconduct reporting protocol<\/a><\/p>\n

The pressure on Mr. Platner to quit spiked Tuesday afternoon when far-left icon Sen. Bernard Sanders \u2014 the democratic socialist from Vermont who helped legitimize Mr. Platner\u2019s \u201cworking\u2011class\u201d insurgent bid \u00a0\u2014 broke his silence and urged him to step aside so Maine Democrats could put a new candidate on the ballot.<\/p>\n

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the new poster boy of the party\u2019s socialist wing, also said it was time for Mr. Platner to bail out of the race.<\/p>\n

And the far-left group Our Revolution went a step further, calling for former state Senate President Troy Jackson \u2014 a fifth\u2011generation logger and popular liberal activist who lost the recent Maine gubernatorial primary \u2014 to replace Mr. Platner on the ticket.<\/p>\n

Mr. Jackson also took steps of his own, filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to form an exploratory Senate committee, as the jockeying among other possible Platner substitutes intensified.<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO: Sanders says Platner should quit Maine Senate race<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Nirav Shah, who also fell short in the gubernatorial primary, and Jordan Wood, who failed to win the 2nd Congressional District primary, signaled interest. Other names circulating include Secretary of State Shella Bellows, the fourth\u2011place finisher in the gubernatorial primary, and Dan Kleban, co-founder of the Maine Beer Co. Some Democrats are still holding out hope that Rep. Jared Golden, who is not seeking reelection, would consider the slot.<\/p>\n

Mr. Platner stayed mum about his plans, even as reports indicated that he wanted a say in who would replace him.<\/p>\n

His campaign went into crisis mode Monday after Jenny Racicot, a 41\u2011year\u2011old Maine resident, said Mr. Platner raped her in 2021. She told Politico she dated Mr. Platner off and on for years and that he showed up drunk at her home uninvited late one night and forced her to have sex with him despite her repeated objections.<\/p>\n

Mr. Platner said the allegations were false. He also said he was mulling the \u201cbest path forward,\u201d signaling for the first time he was considering pulling out of the race.<\/p>\n

It did not take long for some of Mr. Platner\u2019s most high\u2011profile supporters \u2014 including Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona \u2014 to jump ship. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts also yanked her support.<\/p>\n

Mr. Sanders took more time. He surveyed the political mess for nearly a day before putting one of the likely final nails in Mr. Platner\u2019s political coffin.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

SEE ALSO: NYC\u2019s Zohran Mamdani says it is time for Graham Platner to call it quits in Maine<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Read more Bolivia aiming to strengthen ties with U.S. after election of conservative president<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine,\u201d Mr. Sanders said on social media. \u201cIn the light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Maine law, Democrats need Mr. Platner to withdraw from the race by Monday to set the stage for them to replace him on the ballot. If he drops out by Monday, the Maine Democratic Party has until July 27 to name a replacement candidate.<\/p>\n

Republicans said Mr. Platner\u2019s shadow will continue to hang over the race no matter what happens next.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Democrat candidate in Maine will either be an alleged rapist with a Nazi tattoo, or someone he selects with the same \u2018values and vision,\u2019\u201d said Sen. Tim Scott, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate GOP\u2019s campaign arm.<\/p>\n

The Washington Post, meanwhile, reported Tuesday that one of Mr. Platner\u2019s former girlfriends said he used to remove condoms without her knowing during sex. The Platner campaign denied the new allegation.<\/p>\n

The erosion of Mr. Platner\u2019s left\u2011wing support is the latest chapter in what has been a wild ride for the first\u2011time candidate.<\/p>\n

A former Marine and oyster farmer, he electrified the party\u2019s base and steamrolled Gov. Janet Mills in the June primary. The victory came after he weathered early concerns about his past, from inflammatory social media rants about women drinking too much at bars to a Nazi symbol tattoo he later covered up to sexually explicit texts he sent to women after getting married.<\/p>\n

Then came a New York Times report in early June in which three women who had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner described his behavior as unsettling and volatile, saying he drank heavily and was unfaithful.<\/p>\n

He apologized for some of those episodes, and the strong support from Mr. Sanders and liberal activists helped insulate him from the political fallout. He folded the controversies into a broader message that if voters believed in transformative politics, they had to believe in the power of people to change.<\/p>\n

He went on to win 72% of the Democratic primary vote \u2014 a race that effectively ended in late April when Ms. Mills, a beloved Democrat and staple of Maine politics who was backed by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, suspended her campaign in deference to Mr. Platner\u2019s momentum in the race.<\/p>\n

All that is unraveling since the rape allegation, with Mr. Schumer among the first prominent Democrats to call on Mr. Platner to leave the race.<\/p>\n

Read more Senate Republicans say McConnell is \u2018fully engaged\u2019 amid health questions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The same left-wing coalition that helped turn him into a rock star in Maine’s U.S. Senate race abandoned him Tuesday in the wake of a rape allegation that has thrown into turmoil the Democratic Party’s plan to unseat Republican Sen. 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