PORTLAND, Maine — Democratic leaders across the country are in crisis mode after Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner was hit with a sexual assault allegation, leaving the party scrambling Tuesday to figure out how to salvage a critical race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Platner, who is contesting the allegation, has so far refused to step down despite a mounting chorus of calls from fellow Democrats to exit the race. On Monday, he released a video saying he is weighing his options while pulling back from scheduled town hall appearances.
The video came after reports emerged that a woman who had previously been in a relationship with Platner claimed he forced her to have sex while intoxicated in 2021, despite her telling him to stop.
Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, spoke to Politico and CNN about the alleged 2021 incident. She said she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner at the time, but cut off all contact with him following that night and made clear to him that what happened was not consensual. In a CNN interview Monday evening, Racicot explained that she chose not to physically resist because she feared Platner — a former Marine — might become more violent.
The allegation is just the latest in a series of controversies that Platner, an oyster farmer and Marine veteran, has faced since entering the race. However, the gravity of this latest claim has put the entire Maine Senate contest — and Democrats’ broader effort to take control of the Senate — in serious jeopardy, with even some of his most dedicated backers now questioning whether he should continue.
Joanie Monteith, a devoted Platner supporter from the southern Maine community of York who organized a trivia event about him back in March, said Tuesday that she was left emotionally devastated by the news.
