{"id":846,"date":"2026-07-09T04:16:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=846"},"modified":"2026-07-09T04:16:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:16:42","slug":"it-cant-be-me-platner-drops-out-of-maine-senate-race-following-assault-allegation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=846","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIt can\u2019t be me\u201d: Platner drops out of Maine Senate race following assault allegation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Graham Platner suspended his campaign for Senate on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s came forward with an allegation of sexual assault.<\/p>\n

Read more \u201cI\u2019d be up there with Lenin\u201d: Trump tells far-right reporter he\u2019d be the communist GOAT<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the movement to continue, it can\u2019t be me. And for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations, \u201cPlatner said. \u201cWe\u2019re not doing it because of the allegations; we\u2019re doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jenny Racicot, 41, claimed that the Maine veteran assaulted her in 2021. Racicot had accused Platner of behavior that was \u201cunsettling\u201d 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\u2019s account of troubling behavior from Platner characterized as a partisan attack.<\/p>\n

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Platner called Racicot\u2019s claims \u201cfalse\u201d in his video statement. He said that the story was published in a way that gave him \u201cno time to truly respond, no time for investigations.\u201d He accused the \u201ccorporate media system and the political establishment\u201d of acting as \u201cjudge, jury, and executioner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese things that have been claimed, did not happen,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s not real.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat comes next needs to come from the people, needs to come from the people of Maine,\u201d he said. \u201cIt needs to be open, transparent and democratic. It needs to be reflecting the will and the values of the people that built this movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more \u201cIncreasingly concerned\u201d: Gov. Beshear demands to know what\u2019s up with Mitch McConnell<\/a><\/p>\n

Watch Platner\u2019s announcement below:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/x.com\/grahamformaine\/status\/2075009677495058687<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The candidate suspended his campaign but maintained that assault allegations against him were “not real.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[563,564,247,1128],"class_list":["post-846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-graham-platner","tag-maine","tag-senate","tag-susan-collins"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cIt can\u2019t be me\u201d: Platner drops out of Maine Senate race following assault allegation - Relocation Across America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=846\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cIt can\u2019t be me\u201d: Platner drops out of Maine Senate race following assault allegation - Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The candidate suspended his campaign but maintained that assault allegations against him were "not real."\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationacrossamerica.com\/?p=846\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Across America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-09T04:16:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"headline\":\"\u201cIt can\u2019t be me\u201d: Platner drops out of Maine Senate race following assault allegation\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-09T04:16:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846\"},\"wordCount\":426,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/887f4185448ac6f5ad8661f67e4f34da.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Graham Platner\",\"Maine\",\"Senate\",\"Susan Collins\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846\",\"name\":\"\u201cIt can\u2019t be me\u201d: Platner drops out of Maine Senate race following assault allegation - Relocation Across America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/887f4185448ac6f5ad8661f67e4f34da.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-09T04:16:42+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba2572fa1a7a241291fdc36bdae80fcf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/?p=846#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/887f4185448ac6f5ad8661f67e4f34da.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationacrossamerica.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/887f4185448ac6f5ad8661f67e4f34da.jpg\",\"width\":1692,\"height\":1128,\"caption\":\"PORTLAND, MAINE - JUNE 07: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to voters at a town hall at the Elks Lodge 188 on June 7, 2026 in Portland, Maine. 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