Platner drops campaign for Maine's U.S. Senate seat

Audio By Carbonatix

(The Center Square) – Graham Platner, the controversial Democratic nominee for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat, dropped out of the race Wednesday amid intense scrutiny over new sexual assault allegations from a former girlfriend.

The alleged assault was first reported by Politico, which said the woman — Jenny Racicot, 41 — claimed the attack occurred in the Maine town where she lived in 2021 when she and Platner were dating.

Platner denied the claims in a video message posted on social media, but said he would take time to “reflect” on how to proceed with his Senate campaign. He canceled several campaign events for Sunday and Monday.

On Wednesday, he reiterated that Racicot’s claims are “not remotely true.”

“Over the past couple of days, I have faced some serious allegations, and I just want to make it clear, this is all false,” he said. “The things that have been claimed did not happen. It’s not real.”

My name might be on the ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine. pic.twitter.com/RKVyLU76tm

— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) July 9, 2026

He went on to blame the corporate media system and the political establishment for acting as “judge, jury and executioner” in a conspiracy to thwart his populist agenda.

“They would rather see Susan Collins win than have me be the next senator from Maine,” he said.

Meanwhile, prominent Democrats across the nation who once backed him reversed course, calling on the Marine veteran and oyster farmer to withdraw from the race ahead of a July 13 deadline to replace him.

On the latter issue, reports surfaced Tuesday that Democrats across the state were lining up to replace Platner, including several of the candidates that lost to him in the primary election last month.

The race is considered a key plank of Democrats' push to retake the Senate — where Republicans currently have a 53-47 majority.

The first-time candidate has been dogged by allegations of excessive drinking, infidelity, scandals involving explicit text messages, past online comments and a covered-up Nazi tattoo. 

Despite this, recent polls showed Platner leading sitting Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins among likely voters.

“This is incredibly difficult because I know that some will think it’s an admission of guilt and it most certainly is not,” Platner said Wednesday in a video posted to X. “We are not doing it because of the allegations, we are doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.”