Graham Platner, Democratic US Senate candidate for Maine, during a primary election night event at the Blue Hill YMCA in Blue Hill, Maine, US, on Tuesday, June 9, 2026. Photographer: Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The Democratic candidate for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat, who had withstood multiple controversies in recent months, announced that he would be dropping out of the race following a sexual assault allegation.
Big picture view:
Graham Platner revealed his departure from the ballot in an 11-minute video posted onto X, ending an insurgent campaign that had won the support of progressive politicians and bested former Gov. Janet Mills, who had the backing of the Democratic establishment.
Why you should care:
Who wins the Senate race in Maine this fall is considered key to determining which party will control the upper chamber in the coming session. Democrats are eager to flip the seat by defeating incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who is seeking her sixth term.
What they're saying:
"This is incredibly difficult because I know some will think it’s an admission of guilt and it most certainly is not," Platner said in the video released Wednesday evening. "We are 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."
The backstory:
Platner, who has never held elected office, won support in the primary from voters who were looking for a more combative candidate and recognized one in the military veteran and oyster farmer.
His supporters, who included many progressive leaders, often looked past many of the controversies that arose during the campaign, which included having a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol and online postings dismissive of sexual assault. Just prior to the June 9 primary where Platner secured the nomination, reports arose that he exchanged sexually explicit messages with other women while married and became physical with a previous girlfriend.
However, his campaign unraveled this week when Politico published a story in which a woman who said she was in an on-and-off relationship with Platner accused him of drunkenly forcing her to have sex after she told him to stop. The woman, Jenny Racicot, told the website that she cut off contact with Platner after that, and later told CNN that she had been raped "by definition."
Since the publication of the article, Platner has steadfastly denied the allegations, saying they were "categorically false." Soon, though, high-level supporters, including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), had distanced themselves from the candidate.
What's next:
As Platner noted in his video, one of the factors in making his decision to quit the race now is that it will allow the Democrats to replace him on the November ballot. The party had agreed earlier in the day to hold a nominating convention to select his replacement should he withdraw.
The Democrats need to gain four seats this coming election to win control of the Senate and see Maine as central to that strategy, along with Alaska, North Carolina, and Ohio.
The Source: Information for this article was taken from The Associated Press and Graham Platner’s X account. This story was reported from Orlando.