Schumer and Gillibrand said the Democrats’ Senate campaign arm will not invest in the Maine race if Platner remains on the ballot.
Top Democrats—including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the Maine Democratic Party—called on Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner to withdraw from his race against Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on July 6 after he denied a new sexual assault allegation reported by Politico.
Platner said earlier in the evening in a video posted on X that his campaign was “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward.”
“I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious, and false allegations against me,” Platner said in the video. “Any accusation of nonconsensual behavior is categorically false.”
Politico reported on July 6 that Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident who said she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner for more than two years, alleged that he entered her home uninvited while intoxicated in late 2021 and forced himself on her despite her repeated objections. Racicot told the outlet she cut off contact with Platner after the alleged incident and did not file a police report.
Platner and his campaign denied the allegation in statements to Politico. The campaign’s statement said the allegations were “coached and coordinated by out of state establishment operatives” and noted the report’s timing a week before the state’s ballot deadline. The deadline for candidates to drop out of the contest with time for a party to replace a nominee is July 13.
Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), called the allegations “incredibly disturbing” in a joint statement, saying that “violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable.”
“Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins,” they said. “The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.”
Senate Majority PAC, the main super PAC aligned with Senate Democrats, also called on Platner to withdraw and said it’s redirecting resources away from the race.
“We believe the women who have come forward about Graham Platner, and we stand with the survivors who have shared their experiences at real personal cost,” spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement. “Having lost the trust of the people of Maine, Platner should withdraw from this Senate race.
“We continue to believe this seat is winnable if Platner is not on the ballot, but we cannot strategically continue to invest here when there is an expansive battleground map where these resources can help win a Democratic majority,” French said.
Maine Democratic Party leadership also called on Platner to withdraw in a statement signed by Chair Charlie Dingman, Vice Chair Imke Schessler, and Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson.
“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” the statement posted on X said. “The Maine Democratic Party leadership stands with women and survivors, and that principle does not bend based on party affiliation.”
By Chase Smith
