Graham Platner, the embattled Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, suspended his campaign on Wednesday amid mounting controversies and growing calls from top Democrats in his home state, in the nation’s capital, and across the country for him to immediately quit the race.
Platner, a populist Democrat backed last September by progressive champion Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., was challenging longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a high-profile, combustible and expensive race in Maine, which is one of a handful that will determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority in November’s midterm elections.
“For the movement to continue, it can’t be me. For that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,” Platner said in a video posted to social media.
Platner’s exit from the race comes five days before a crucial deadline, which, if he had missed, would have prevented Maine Democrats from replacing him with a new nominee on the general election ballot.
The suspension of his campaign took place one month after Platner won a landslide victory in Maine’s June 9 Democratic Senate primary, but just two days after an explosive report on Monday afternoon contained an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated.
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Addressing those allegations, a visibly irritated Platner charged, “This is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It is not real.”
And Platner, who has run an outsider, anti-establishment campaign for nearly a year, pointed to the political class and argued, “the brutal political reality is they are going to take everything away from us.”
Platner said that if he continued his bid, he’d lose the ability to raise money and access crucial voter data, essential elements to any campaign.
“Those in power who have the ability to do so are using these allegations as an excuse to take away all the things that we need to run a campaign,” he charged.
Platner’s suspension of his campaign comes just before a 5 p.m. deadline on Monday, July 13, set by state law, for candidates to withdraw from the race.
Since Platner dropped out ahead of the deadline, the Maine Democratic Party will be able to replace him on the general election ballot. The party needs to select a new nominee by July 27.
If Platner had exited the race after the deadline, his name could be stricken from the ballot, but Maine Democrats would not be able to replace him with another candidate.
The Maine Democratic Party on Tuesday night, in a stunning announcement, said that party officials were working “around the clock” to determine a replacement process, but claimed that Platner and his team were trying “to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like.”
Platner’s team, responding, said they had reached out to the party but denied they were trying to put any “finger on the scale.”
A couple of hours before Platner dropped out, the state party announced it would hold a nominating convention to choose a new Senate nominee, if Platner were to exit the race.
That didn’t appear to sit well with Platner, who in his video said, “What comes next needs to come from the people. Needs to come from the people of Maine. Needs to come from the voters who on June 9….said no to this kind of politics. Voted for a politics that would actually represent them. Vote against the political system. Against the donor class. Against the entrenched forces.”
“I’m not asking for how this process is going to work. I’m not trying to dictate to anyone how it should be or how we get there,” he emphasized. “But I will say this, it needs to be open, transparent, and democratic. It needs to be reflective of the will and the values of the people that built this movement, the people that showed up on June 9. People in DC should stay in DC. Decisions should not be made in backrooms by people in places of political power.”
The allegation that triggered Platner’s exit from the race came from Maine resident Jenny Racicot, 41, who told CNN’s Jake Tapper that “by dictionary definition” Platner “raped” her.
“I thought, here’s a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, raped me. And he’s blaming drunk women,” Racicot said. “So I just felt like that was a very odd take to have on that. And I also feel like with all of the comments that he made about women, sexual assault, rape, even, um, you know, the comments that he had made that was in The New York Times article about, you know, threatening people with rape, like, why does this person have this issue, like scattered throughout their life, throughout their commentary, like it‘s on their mind?”
Racicot also said over the course of three interviews with Politico that Platner forced her to have sex five years ago against her will, a claim that Platner denied in the Politico story. Additionally, the report says that a man Racicot dated afterward confirmed she had told him about the incident, which was also corroborated by emails between Racicot and her therapist.
“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot told the outlet about the incident, which allegedly took place while Platner was “almost blackout drunk.” “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”
Racicot alleged that Platner entered her home uninvited and forced her to have unprotected sex despite her telling him to stop multiple times.
Racicot said in the report that “one of the reasons” she didn’t come forward until now was the “huge moral conflict” she had between her support of Platner’s politics and not supporting him “as a person.”
“I just want the truth out there,” Racicot said. “I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person.”
In a statement to Politico, Platner said, “These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.”
The Platner campaign also posted a video on X shortly after the Politico story published where Platner again called the allegations “false” and that he was going to “reflect” on the best path forward.
“So, regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner says in the video. “Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.”
Platner was hit with a second explosive allegation of sexual impropriety on Tuesday. In a report published by The Washington Post, Platner was accused of removing condoms during sex with his ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield after she explicitly directed him to wear them.
Fifield, 41, previously accused Platner of physical misconduct during their relationship, saying that he sometimes grabbed her hard enough to leave marks on her body and that one time he twisted her arm around her back, pushed her into a bedroom and held the door shut until she “calmed down.”
In a statement to The Washington Post, the Platner campaign said that Fifield’s latest allegations were “categorically false and politically motivated,” as they pointed to her previous work for the conservative Heritage Foundation.
The Marine Corps combat veteran and oyster farmer became the all-but-certain nominee in the spring, after two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who had been backed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and the Democrat establishment, suspended her bid after significantly trailing Platner in fundraising and polling.
But Platner was forced onto defense the past couple of months amid multiple controversies that muddied the final days of his primary campaign and overshadowed his victory.
Past inflammatory online comments made on a now-deleted Reddit account came back to haunt him at the same time he was reeling from revelations of a now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol. Then reports that Platner exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married came right before allegations from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes.
Platner repeatedly called the allegations of violence untrue.
A day before the primary last month, a former high-level staffer from the Platner campaign wrote in a Washington Post op/ed that Platner “is not someone who would be good for Maine or for the country.”
The mounting controversies grabbed plenty of attention, gave Republicans more ammunition to use against him and triggered some Democrats in the nation’s capital to question whether Platner was damaged goods.
But the allegations didn’t stop him from riding a populist wave to capture the nomination.
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Platner, who had acknowledged his battle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from his three tours of duty in the war in Iraq with the Marines and one tour with the Army National Guard in Afghanistan, apologized for his controversial Reddit posts after some of them made headlines last fall soon after he launched his Senate campaign.
And Platner said he got the skull and crossbones tattoo in 2007, while drinking with fellow Marines stationed in Croatia. He said that he covered up the tattoo with a new design after learning last year that it resembled a Nazi symbol.
But allegations from an ex-girlfriend raised questions about Platner’s timeline regarding knowledge of the tattoo.
In his primary night victory speech, Platner emphasized that he was a changed man.
“If you believe, as I do, that we can change our politics and change our country, then you must also believe that people can change,” Platner told the crowd. “And the reason I believe that is because I have lived it. And the reason that I have lived it is because of my wife.”
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Rumors about Platner potentially dropping out started swirling this past weekend, as multiple events by the candidate were canceled without an official explanation. The Bangor Daily News reported on Monday that one organizer said an event was canceled due to Platner “not feeling well.”
The news of the canceled events led conservative outlets and pundits to speculate whether there was an underlying reason for the cancelations or an impending end to his campaign.
Collins said in a statement, “These allegations are appalling. Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate.”
As Monday afternoon turned into Monday evening, a growing chorus of leading Democrats called on Platner to quit the race.
Schumer called the allegations in the Politico report “incredibly disturbing – violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable.”
In a statement with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) Chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Schumer emphasized, “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. The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.”
Senate Majority PAC, the Schumer-aligned top super PAC backing Senate Democratic incumbents and candidates, said it was “redirecting resources away from the Maine Senate race in light of the latest allegations against Graham Platner.”
The leadership of the Maine Democratic Party, in a statement, said it “is calling Graham Platner to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate.”
One of Platner’s top supporters in Congress, Rep. Ro Khanna of California, rescinded his endorsement.
“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement,” Khanna wrote in a social media post.
Khanna, a top progressive leader in the House, told Fox News Digital as he campaigned with Platner in Maine days ahead of the primary that he was “concerned about making it clear that we’re opposed to misogyny, those relationships were toxic and volatile, there’s no excuse for that.”
“I talked to Graham, and he says he was at a very dark period. He had come back from two tours of duty in Iraq as an infantryman seeing violence and death. That doesn’t excuse it,” Khanna said last month.
Also dropping their endorsement on Monday was Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, who along with Khanna is considered a potential 2028 White House hopeful.
“The allegations against Graham Platner are troubling and deeply serious,” Gallego wrote on X. “I am rescinding my endorsement.”
So did progressive champion Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who had endorsed and appeared with Platner.
Our Revolution, a progressive political action organization founded by Sanders, announced it was withdrawing its endorsement of Platner.
On Tuesday, Sanders finally put out a statement.
“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine. In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside,” the senator wrote.
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Platner, who launched his bid for U.S. Senate last summer, quickly started drawing large crowds and built a healthy fundraising war chest earlier this year, thanks, in part, to Sanders’ early support and the candidate’s tireless efforts on the trail.
Two polls conducted late last month indicated a close general election contest. A Fox News poll gave Collins a three-point edge, while a New York Times/Siena survey indicated Platner holding a two-point margin.
But beating Collins hasn’t been easy. Six years ago, public opinion polls indicated the senator was headed to defeat, but Collins defied expectations and won re-election by defeating then-Democratic state House Speaker Sara Gideon by nine points.
Collins, a moderate Republican who at times votes against President Donald Trump’s agenda, is running for a sixth six-year term in the Senate.
Republicans currently control the chamber 53-47 and flipping the Senate seat in left-leaning Maine is a key part of the Democrats’ path to retake the majority.
Fox News’ Olivia Palombo and Matthew Donnell contributed to this report