Maine Democrats are frantically trying to push their own Senate nominee off the ballot. Six candidates are already lined up to take his place, and insiders are fighting for control.
But Platner isn’t going quietly.
Platner, the controversial Maine Democrat who won his party’s primary with 72% of the vote, is reportedly refusing to step aside after a rape accusation triggered an overnight mass desertion of his biggest backers.
Instead, he is demanding to handpick his own replacement.
“This vibes to me like a play from Bernie Sanders to slide in Troy Jackson,” one source told Townhall, referring to the socialist Maine Senate president Sanders reportedly wants in the race.
But for Democrats, time is quickly running out. Under Maine law, Platner must withdraw by 5 p.m. by Monday for the Democratic Party to name a replacement by July 27.
No primary will be held. Party officials, not American voters, will choose the nominee.
The rape allegation that triggered the collapse came Monday when Politico published a report from Jenny Racicot, 41, who said Platner entered her home uninvited in 2021 while “almost blackout drunk” and forced her to have sex despite repeatedly being told to stop.
On CNN, anchor Jake Tapper asked her directly: “Did Graham Platner rape you?” Her answer: “By definition? Yes. Absolutely.” Platner denied the allegations, calling them “coached and coordinated by out of state establishment operatives.”
The Democratic establishment wasted no time cutting him loose. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and DSCC Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand called the allegations “incredibly disturbing” and said the DSCC would not invest a dollar in Maine unless Platner drops out.
“Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee,” they said. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Platner’s loudest backer, also recommended he “step aside.”
Far-left radicals Ro Khanna, Ruben Gallego, and Elizabeth Warren all withdrew their endorsements. Maine Democratic Party Chair Charlie Dingman also demanded Platner quit, said saide his party “stands with women and survivors, and that principle does not bend based on party affiliation.”
Meanwhile, the scramble for Platner’s replacement has produced its own meltdown. Six names are now circulating:
- Former Biden CDC deputy director Nirav Shah, viewed as the safe establishment choice, is claiming he’s received “hundreds of encouraging messages.” Shah has never won an election and wasn’t even on the Senate primary ballot.
- Former Maine Senate president Troy Jackson, the radical socialist candidate that Sanders prefers.
- Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who gained national attention for trying to forcibly remove Trump’s name from Maine’s 2024 presidential ballot.
- Former 2020 Senate nominee Sara Gideon, who lost to Collins by 9 points last time.
- There is also Paige Loud, who has filed exploratory paperwork; and Will Wood, who finished third in a recent House primary and says he is “continuing conversations” about a Senate run.
No Democrats in Maine seem to care whether any of this is the American voters’ call. Graham Platner won a commanding primary victory.
Like Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2024 Democratic nomination, a handful of Democratic powerbrokers will decide in a smoky backroom who replaces Platner without a single ballot being cast.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent who stands to benefit from all of it, declined to weigh in on the chaos.
“It is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate,” she said.
In doing so, Collins has given the Democrats just enough rope to hang themselves.