Maine’s scandal-scarred Democratic Senate nominee has suddenly gone dark and dropped off the campaign trail, and his own progressive allies are saying another bombshell is on the way.
Graham Platner cancelled a string of campaign events Sunday and Monday, offering no explanation, as rumors churned among Maine Democrats that a national outlet was preparing to drop a damaging new story about the oyster farmer and Marine veteran.
Three town halls were wiped from his schedule: his Augusta event Sunday night, and both his Gorham and Sanford town halls Monday evening. Gorham Democratic leaders told supporters the event was cancelled because Platner was “not feeling well.” No explanation was given for the others.
The Maine Wire broke the news of the multiple cancellations Monday morning.
“Graham Platner cancels MULTIPLE scheduled town hall events as progressive allies tease another scandal is about to hit his campaign,” the outlet posted on X.
Separately, the prediction market Kalshi showed the odds of Platner dropping out of the race jumping from 2% to more than 9% by Monday morning.
The Bangor Daily News reported that “multiple Democrats [said] they expected a national outlet to drop a story about Platner Monday or Tuesday.”
It would not be the first time Platner has vanished ahead of bad news.
🚨 Maine Democratic Nominee for Senate Graham Platner has CANCELLED all upcoming campaign events ahead of an incoming scandal pic.twitter.com/j9VvtMMBgx
— DSA Watch (@DSA_Watch) July 6, 2026
The Democrat won Maine’s June 9 primary with more than 70% of the vote despite numerous controversies that would have ended most political careers. He had a Totenkopf tattoo, the Death’s Head symbol used by the SS troops who guarded Nazi death camps, which he says he only recently learned was linked to Nazis.
Thousands of deleted Reddit posts from his past reveal he had joked about sexual assault, made racist remarks, posted that a wounded soldier “didn’t deserve to live,” and described himself as a communist.
Then came reports he had sent sexually explicit texts to at least six women while married to his wife, Amy Gertner… messages she herself had brought to his campaign to warn them it could be used against him.
Last month, The New York Times published a story on multiple ex-girlfriends of Platner describing physically threatening behavior including grabbing and leaving marks. He denied any violence.
Each time a scandal broke, Platner cancelled appearances, his campaign went quiet, and then he came back and kept running.
Twitchy’s coverage Monday noted the familiar rhythm, with conservative commentators pointing to reports Platner had also left a July 4th parade in Eastport early and skipped a scheduled appearance at the Machias parade entirely.
Even PBS’s David Brooks, no conservative, was not gentle in his assessment of Platner after the primary.
“The guy is a moral degenerate,” Brooks said on PBS NewsHour. “The abuse of women, the sexting, the Nazi tattoo — I don’t even need to say anything beyond his Reddit posts.”
Platner is running against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), a five-term incumbent, in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country. He was leading Collins by single digits in the most recent University of New Hampshire general election polling.
Democrats view the Maine seat as one of their best pickup opportunities if they want to retake the Senate majority in November.
There is a hard deadline looming over all of it. Under Maine law, a candidate who wins a primary and withdraws by 5 p.m. on July 13 can be replaced by the party. The replacement must be selected by July 27.
That window is now just one week away.
ALERT: Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s odds of dropping out of the race have surprisingly skyrocketed on Polymarket.
This comes as Platner has mysteriously canceled multiple campaign events. pic.twitter.com/FN8FWTRfAM
— E X X ➠A L E R T S (@ExxAlerts) July 6, 2026