Graham Platner suspended his campaign for Senate on Wednesday night.
The Democratic Party nominee was expected to face off with long-time incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Those plans were derailed when a former partner of Platner’s came forward with an allegation of sexual assault.
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The accusation, published in Politico on Monday, proved to be one crisis too many for the scandal-plagued candidate. In a nearly 12-minute-long video announcing the end of his campaign, Platner maintained his innocence and said that he was stepping aside so that there was time to select a new candidate for his ballot line.
“For the movement to continue, it can’t be me. And for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations, “Platner said. “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.”
Jenny Racicot, 41, claimed that the Maine veteran assaulted her in 2021. Racicot had accused Platner of behavior that was “unsettling” in a previous piece from the New York Times diving into his previous relationships. She declined to share details at the time, but told Politico she was compelled to came share her full story after she saw a Republican woman’s account of troubling behavior from Platner characterized as a partisan attack.
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Platner called Racicot’s claims “false” in his video statement. He said that the story was published in a way that gave him “no time to truly respond, no time for investigations.” He accused the “corporate media system and the political establishment” of acting as “judge, jury, and executioner.”
“These things that have been claimed, did not happen,” he said. “It’s not real.”
The state Democratic Party can replace Platner on the ticket, so long as they select a new candidate by July 27. Platner encouraged them to carry out the process democratically.
“What comes next needs to come from the people, needs to come from the people of Maine,” he said. “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.”
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Watch Platner’s announcement below:
https://x.com/grahamformaine/status/2075009677495058687