{"id":3749,"date":"2026-07-09T04:10:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:10:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3749"},"modified":"2026-07-09T04:10:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:10:47","slug":"platner-ends-whirlwind-senate-bid-after-rape-allegation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3749","title":{"rendered":"Platner ends whirlwind Senate bid after rape allegation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Graham Platner finally relented to intense pressure, announcing he was bowing out of the Maine Senate race.<\/p>\n

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In a video posted to social media on Wednesday evening, a defiant Mr. Platner blamed his campaign woes on the Democratic Party establishment, including in Washington, trying to crush the left-populist movement that swept him to victory in the Senate primary and a November showdown against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan M. Collins.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that for the movement to continue, it can\u2019t be me,\u201d he said. \u201cFor that reason, we are suspending campaign operations.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that \u201cI intend to file the paperwork to withdraw\u201d in the next few days.<\/p>\n

Mr. Platner\u2019s 11-minute video, the sound on which suggested it was recorded near a road, oozed anger and defiance, reiterating his claim that the rape charge that has dominated the campaign \u201cwas all false\u201d and \u201cdid not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the false charges were \u201cbeing used by the political establishment\u201d to coerce him and to crush \u201cmovements like ours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe brutal political reality is that they are going to take everything away from us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are going to lose our ability to fundraise. We are going to lose our ability to access voter data [and] all the things that any campaign needs on the basic level to function.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey would rather see Susan Collins win,\u201d he said of the Democratic establishment in the state and nationally.<\/p>\n

His exit cleared the way for Democrats to install a new nominee against Ms. Collins in a marquee contest that could help determine control of the Senate next year.<\/p>\n

The decision came after the 41-year-old Mr. Platner huddled with advisers amid mounting calls to quit after an accusation of rape against him. The calls to bow out even came from democratic socialist Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, the far-left icon who helped legitimize his \u201cworking-class\u201d candidacy.<\/p>\n

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Mr. Platner\u2019s exit was overdue in the eyes of most Democrats.<\/p>\n

State party officials were openly frustrated with him dragging out his exit and accused his team of trying to tip the scales in the process of choosing his replacement.<\/p>\n

In his Wednesday video, during which he choked up several times, Mr. Platner said that whatever happens next, the process of replacing him \u201cneeds to be open, transparent and democratic.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told the Democratic Party in Washington to stay out because they did not secure him the nomination, rather the progressive and socialist voters he mobilized did.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy name might be on the ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine,\u201d Mr. Platner said.<\/p>\n

He spoke in conspiratorial terms of backrooms and deal-makers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople in D.C. need to stay in D.C.,\u201d he said. \u201cDecisions should not be made by people in places of political power.\u201d<\/p>\n

State law includes a provision for Democrats to replaceMr.\u00a0 Platner before the general election.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The state Democratic Party held an emergency meeting Wednesday, during which more than 100 state committee members signed off on holding a nominating convention, in the event of Mr. Platner\u2019s withdrawal.<\/p>\n

Mr. Platner\u2019s video was posted less than an hour later.<\/p>\n

According to the statute, party officials may select a new nominee if a candidate who won the primary withdraws by 5 p.m. on July 13. The replacement candidate must be named by July 27.<\/p>\n

The jockeying to replace him is already underway.<\/p>\n

Dan Kleban, co-founder of the Maine Beer Co., who briefly ran for the Senate this spring before endorsing Gov. Janet Mills\u2019 failed bid, announced Wednesday he was running to replace Mr. Platner.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s time for a new generation of leadership in Washington, one that\u2019s not beholden to the establishment that has failed us time and again,\u201d Mr. Kleban said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Former state Senate President Troy Jackson, meanwhile, filed paperwork to form an exploratory committee. Former public health chief Nirav Shah, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, and Jordan Wood, who lost his bid for the party\u2019s nomination in the 2nd Congressional District primary, also have expressed interest.<\/p>\n

Some hoped that Rep. Jared Golden would give it a go, but that seemed unlikely. When he announced earlier this year that he was not seeking reelection, he made it clear he was ready to put Congress in his rearview mirror.<\/p>\n

The July reshuffle has upended a race that Democrats likely need to win to have any chance of flipping control of the Senate. Republicans have a 53-47 seat edge, and Vice President J.D. Vance\u2019s tie-breaking vote means Democrats need a four-seat net gain.<\/p>\n

Mr. Platner\u2019s exit caps a wild ride for a first\u2011time candidate who electrified the party\u2019s base, steamrolled Gov. Janet Mills in the June primary, and weathered early concerns about his past \u2014 including his behavior toward women.<\/p>\n

He apologized for some of those episodes, eventually rolling them into a broader message that if voters believed in transformative politics, they had to believe in the power of people to change.<\/p>\n

But a fresh rape allegation from Jenny Racicot this week erased any realistic path to defeating Ms. Collins, who is seeking a sixth term.<\/p>\n

Ms. Racicot, a 41\u2011year\u2011old Maine resident, told Politico she dated Mr. Platner on and off for two years, and said he showed up drunk at her home uninvited late one night in 2021 and forced her to have sex with him despite her repeated objections.<\/p>\n

Mr. Platner, a former Marine and oyster farmer, denied the allegation in a video posted on social media, calling it \u201cfalse,\u201d but acknowledged he was reassessing his future in the race.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the 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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But Mr. Platner could not stop the bleeding. After dragging his feet, Mr. Sanders broke his silence Tuesday afternoon, signaling that the far-left coalition that has helped lift him was abandoning him.<\/p>\n

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

Mr. Planter had already been dogged by inflammatory Reddit posts about the tipping habits of Black people and women blacking out at bars. There was additional blowback over his Nazi symbol tattoo that he later covered up, and sexually explicit texts he sent to women after getting married.<\/p>\n

Things intensified last month when The New York Times reported that three women \u2014 one of whom was Ms. Racicot \u2014 had been romantically involved with Mr. Platner and described his unsettling and volatile behavior, saying he drank heavily and was unfaithful.<\/p>\n

But he still sailed to victory in the June primary.<\/p>\n

His chief rival, Ms. Mills, dropped out of the race in late April after it became clear she had a losing hand.<\/p>\n

Not missing his presence will be Sen. John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Democrat, who described the evening\u2019s events as \u201cthe trash took itself out.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said on Fox News that many in the party establishment now need to answer a very pointed question: \u201cwhy did you go in on this dirtbag?\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more New federal probe goes after H-1B visa fraud; Vance says fraudsters are stealing U.S. jobs<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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

Graham Platner bowed out of the Maine Senate race, clearing the way for Democrats to install a new nominee against Sen. Susan Collins in a marquee contest that could help determine control of the Senate next year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nPlatner ends whirlwind Senate bid after rape allegation - Home Buyer Relocation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homebuyerrelocation.com\/?p=3749\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Platner ends whirlwind Senate bid after rape allegation - Home Buyer Relocation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Graham Platner bowed out of the Maine Senate race, clearing the way for Democrats to install a new nominee against Sen. 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