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Graham Platner ended his bid for U.S. Senate on Wednesday, just over two days after a woman accused him of sexually assault her, collapsing an out-of-nowhere campaign that inspired progressives but buckled under increasingly serious scandals.
Platner’s withdrawal caps a 53-hour unraveling that began Monday with Politico’s report that Jenny Racicot, a Maine woman who dated him on and off for more than two years, said he forced her to have sex with him despite her repeated objections. The Maine Democratic Party and national figures disavowed his campaign almost instantly, leaving no path forward.
Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran making his first bid for office, entered the Senate race last August as a little-known figure taking on Gov. Janet Mills, who had the backing of national party leaders and had been elected twice statewide. She dropped out of the race in April after being outflanked by Platner, who won 72% of votes in the June primary.
He withdrew from the race in an emotional 11-minute video, blaming Democrats for pulling support for him and the “political establishment” for assassinating his character.
“This is incredibly difficult, because I know that some will think it’s an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not,” he said. “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.”
Platner’s campaign became a magnet for the same anti-establishment energy that fueled New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s rise, built on small-dollar donations, a volunteer army and rallies that swelled far beyond Maine campaigns draw. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, both embraced him as a standard-bearer for the party’s progressive wing.
That same rise and the stakes of a race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, whose seat is crucial to control of the chamber, subjected Platner to a compressed, extraordinarily public vetting that unfolded over months rather than years.
His deleted Reddit posts became public last fall, including comments dismissive of women’s fears about rape and remarks characterized as inflammatory toward rural white Americans and Black people. A chest tattoo resembling the skull-and-crossbones symbol adopted by Nazis surfaced soon after; Platner said he got it in 2007 while deployed abroad with the Marines and didn’t know its history, and later had it covered.
Days before the primary, The Wall Street Journal reported he’d exchanged sexually explicit texts with other women early in his marriage to Amy Gertner, who had disclosed the messages to his campaign. The New York Times followed with former girlfriends describing volatile and “toxic” behavior, including instances of physical intimidation.
None of it stopped Maine Democrats from nominating him by the widest margin in the party’s modern primary history. It was Racicot’s account to Politico — that Platner entered her home uninvited while intoxicated in 2021 and had sex with her as she repeatedly told him to stop — that party leaders treated as instantly disqualifying.
“These allegations are deeply disturbing,” Democratic gubernatorial nominee Hannah Pingree said Monday, joining other prominent Maine Democrats in calling on him to leave the race.
Racicot later told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Platner seemed too drunk to register her objections and that she went along with the encounter out of fear, not consent.
“Complying is not consenting,” Racicot said.
Platner denied the allegation from the outset, calling it “categorically false” in a video posted Monday. His campaign described the accusations as “coached and coordinated by out of state establishment operatives.” It had a similar line on Tuesday, when another story surfaced in The Washington Post about an ex-girlfriend who said he removed condoms without consent during sex.
The reversal among his backers was swift. U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-California, and U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Arizona, withdrew their endorsements Monday. Warren called for him to step aside. By Tuesday, Sanders had spoken with Platner and recommended that he step aside.
The Maine Democratic Party, the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm and Senate Majority PAC all said they would not back him further, with the national committee threatening to pull investment from the race entirely if he stayed on the ballot.
Under Maine law, Platner’s withdrawal preserved the party’s spot on the November ballot against Collins, who is seeking a sixth term. The Maine Democratic Party, which has warred with Platner over now has until July 27 to replace him and approved a plan on Wednesday to hold a 600-person caucus to do so.
Democrats had already begun jockeying before Platner’s decision was final. Former Senate President Troy Jackson filed paperwork Tuesday to explore a run, saying he believes he’s “the best person to replace” Platner. Other declared candidates include state Rep. Valli Geiger of Rockland, a Platner loyalist, brewer Dan Kleban and 2nd District candidate Paige Loud.
Former public health chief Nirav Shah and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who ran alongside Jackson for the gubernatorial nomination in June, former 2nd Congressional District candidate Jordan Wood and David Costello, who ran against Platner in the June primary, have all drawn interest or expressed it themselves.
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