Graham Platner officially withdraws from the Maine Senate race

Embattled candidate Graham Platner officially dropped out of Maine’s U.S. Senate race on Friday, paving the way for Democrats to select a new nominee just days before the deadline. “I write to formally withdraw my candidacy for United States Senate,” Platner wrote in a letter to Maine’s division of elections that he shared on X. Maine’s secretary of state’s office, which oversees elections, confirmed receipt of the letter. Platner announced Wednesday that he planned to withdraw from the race, but he had yet to file the necessary paperwork to do so. The Friday filing put an end to fears among Democrats that he might reverse his decision or fail to file the papers by the July 13 deadline and ultimately stay in the race. The filing triggers a process where the Maine Democratic Party can replace him on the ballot. Under state law, they have until July 27 at 5 p.m. ET to submit a new nominee. Maine’s Democratic Party has said it will hold a convention where candidates can seek the nomination. The winner of the shortened campaign will face Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November in one of the nation’s most competitive Senate races, one that could decide control of the chamber. Candidates must formally declare by Wednesday, July 15 at 5 p.m. In his letter Friday, Platner wrote that more than 156,000 Mainers voted for him in search of “a new kind of politics.” “They voted for time and dignity; for strong unions and jobs they can raise families on; for the hope of buying a home; for the chance to retire with grace,” he wrote. “My name may have been on the ballot, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine. As such, please consider this notice as my official withdrawal from consideration for this office.” Candidates began jockeying to replace Platner last week, even before he announced his exit following a new sexual assault allegation against him made by a former girlfriend. The woman, Jenny Racicot, told Politico and CNN that he forced her to have sex with him in 2021, a claim he has rebuffed as “categorically false.” “What comes next needs to come from the people, needs to come from the people of Maine,” Platner said in a video announcing his campaign’s suspension. “It needs to be open, transparent and democratic. It needs to be reflecting the will and the values of the people that built this movement.” “We believe that for the movement to continue, it can’t be me. And for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,” he added. “We’re not doing it because of the allegations; we’re doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.” At least half a dozen candidates have already jumped into the contest to replace Platner — including several who ran, and lost, in the state’s gubernatorial and Senate primaries this year, and one person who ran — and lost — to Collins in 2014. With no formal process enumerated in the group’s bylaws for how to replace a Democratic statewide nominee, the Maine Democratic Party is scrambling to set up a nominating convention that will take place before the July 27 deadline to place someone on the ballot. “Graham Platner dropping out today was the right thing to do,” the state party’s executive director, Devon Murphy-Anderson, told NBC News’ “Meet the Press NOW” on Wednesday. She added that “the allegations that were brought against him were very real and they were very credible.” Murphy-Anderson said that Maine voters would be involved “in some way” in picking the candidates who will appear at the convention in some way. “We are, of course, going to require folks to talk to Maine voters in some way that’s going to qualify them to be our U.S. Senate nominee beyond just declaring their intent. What that will most likely look like is petition collection from Maine Democratic voters across the state,” she said. Platner’s campaign had been marred with scandal since he launched his candidacy last year. In October, Platner apologized after controversial past Reddit posts resurfaced in which the military veteran called himself a “communist,” called cops “bastards” and said women who are raped need to “take some responsibility for themselves.” In May, Platner’s wife said she was “angry” and “disappointed” after several news outlets reported that Platner had exchanged sexual texts with women outside of his marriage, something that his wife had disclosed to key campaign advisers as a potential liability when Platner first considered running for the Senate. In June, several of Platner’s ex-girlfriends — including Racicot — told The New York Times about “unsettling behavior” they witnessed while they dated him.