{"id":917370,"date":"2026-07-06T23:47:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T23:47:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/917370\/"},"modified":"2026-07-06T23:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T23:47:17","slug":"platner-says-he-will-reflect-on-senate-campaign-after-sexual-assault-accusation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/917370\/","title":{"rendered":"Platner says he will ‘reflect’ on Senate campaign after sexual assault accusation"},"content":{"rendered":"

A woman who previously dated Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop, according to a Politico report<\/a> released Monday, leading prominent supporters to pull their endorsements and throwing a must-win race for the party into turmoil. <\/p>\n

Platner denied the allegation, but said he would be considering next steps for his campaign. <\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we\u2019re taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,\u201d he said in a video released on social media. <\/p>\n

Jenny Racicot, who lives in Maine, told Politico that Platner entered her home in 2021 while drunk and assaulted her. Racicot said she had been in an on-and-off relationship with Platner, but she cut off contact with him after that night and told him the incident wasn\u2019t consensual. A voicemail left at a number listed for Racicot seeking comment did not receive an immediate response, but in an interview on CNN Monday evening she said she opted not to fight back for fear of Platner, a former Marine, becoming more violent.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe violated multiple layers of consent that night,\u201d Racicot said.<\/p>\n

Platner\u2019s campaign did not immediately respond to an email and phone message from The Associated Press seeking comment. <\/p>\n

\u201cAny accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,\u201d Platner said in his video.<\/p>\n

Uproar in the Democratic Party<\/p>\n

Still, the allegation sparked a flight away from a candidate who has long been controversial. The main campaign arm of Senate Democrats called on Platner to drop out and said it would spend no money in the state if he is the nominee.<\/p>\n

\u201cGraham 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,\u201d Kirsten Gillibrand, chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and Chuck Schumer, the top Senate Democrat, said in a joint statement. The Democratic National Committee sent out an email soliciting money for Senate races hours after the Politico report posted, but Maine was not one of them.<\/p>\n

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat who\u2019d stood by Platner even as the insurgent candidate was hit with prior allegations, said Monday\u2019s was enough. \u201cI\u2019ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,\u201d Khanna said. \u201cThese allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego also announced he was pulling his endorsement, as did the Democratic-leaning political group End Citizens United. The Democratic leaders of Maine\u2019s legislature called for Platner to withdraw, as did top officials at the state Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today\u2019s statements take those allegations even further,\u201d party chair Charlie Dingman, vice chair Imke Schessler and executive director Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Senate race comes at a pivotal moment in the struggle against a government, supported by Senator Collins, that serves the interests of the wealthy and powerful at the expense of ordinary Maine people. It is essential that we refocus this campaign on that struggle,\u201d the statement continued.<\/p>\n

Collins, the Republican incumbent in the Maine Senate race, said in a statement: \u201cThese allegations are appalling. Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Platner commandingly won Maine\u2019s Democratic primary last month, but state law<\/a> allows him to be replaced on the ballot if he withdraws by July 13. The replacement candidate must be named by July 27.<\/p>\n

As of Monday, Platner had canceled a handful of campaign town halls planned in Maine. <\/p>\n

A succession of campaign controversies<\/p>\n

Platner was a first-time candidate who won the primary with backing of the party\u2019s left wing. While some Democrats came around to support him<\/a> after his commanding primary win, Platner\u2019s controversial history had already left others openly despairing of their chances of winning the race. A veteran who also worked for a private security contractor, Platner has a chest tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol<\/a>, had a history of controversial statements on social media and reportedly sexted with other women<\/a> shortly after getting married.<\/p>\n

In 2013, Platner posted on Reddit that people shouldn\u2019t get so drunk \u201cthey wind up having sex with someone they don\u2019t mean to\u201d and that sexual assault victims should \u201cjust take some responsibility for themselves.\u201d He\u2019s since apologized for the post and says he no longer holds those beliefs.<\/p>\n

Hasan Piker, a leftist commentator and streamer who\u2019s backed Platner, seemed to reverse himself Monday following the Politico report. \u201cIf new evidence presents itself, I\u2019m going to change my perspective \u2014 it\u2019s that simple,\u201d Piker said during a livestream on Twitch, adding: \u201cThis is a clear-cut instance of verifiable sexual assault allegations. It\u2019s completely irredeemable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maine\u2019s Democrats have long sought to oust Collins, who\u2019s held on despite representing a state that reliably votes for other party at the presidential level. After Collins\u2019 solid 2020 win, several Maine Democrats passed on the opportunity to challenge her this time and instead looked at other offices. That left the state\u2019s 78-year-old governor, Janet Mills, as the Democratic establishment\u2019s best hope.<\/p>\n

Platner rode into the political void and pitched himself as a blue-collar oysterman and veteran who could reach disaffected voters who had supported President Donald Trump. But as allegations began mounting against him, some state Democrats had heartburn, embodied by Mills\u2019 refusal to endorse Platner after she dropped out of the primary. Chatter already began to circulate about other possible replacements, including former state senator and logger Troy Jackson and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve known this has been coming,\u201d said Marie Follayttar, a Democrat and community organizer in Maine, talking the growing whispers inside the state\u2019s small population that had been bracing for yet another revelation surrounding Platner. \u201cI\u2019ve been scared and I\u2019ve been sick waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mike Connelly, a business owner and Democrat in Brunswick, Maine, said in an interview that he wants Platner to drop out after the latest allegations. But Connelly said he\u2019d vote for him if he stays in.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would vote for a comatose Democrat before I would vote for Susan Collins,\u201d Connelly said.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press generally does not name victims of sexual assault, but in this case Racicot spoke in an interview with Politico.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A woman who previously dated Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said he drunkenly forced her to have…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":917371,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[7373,10762,8120,370549,69,90,57,257044,370548,4228,120279,370545,23286,2741,370546,2735,370547,50,37380,80,88006,7252,72572,16537,362526,89,67,132,68,93],"class_list":["post-917370","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","category-us","tag-2026-elections","tag-assault","tag-charles-schumer","tag-charlie-dingman","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-general-news","tag-hasan-piker","tag-imke-schessler","tag-indictments","tag-janet-mills","tag-jenny-racicot","tag-kirsten-gillibrand","tag-maine","tag-marie-follayttar","tag-me-state-wire","tag-mike-connelly","tag-news","tag-political-endorsements","tag-politics","tag-ro-khanna","tag-ruben-gallego","tag-shenna-bellows","tag-susan-collins","tag-troy-jackson","tag-u-s-democratic-party","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us","tag-washington-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917370","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=917370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/917370\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/917371"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=917370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=917370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=917370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}