Maine Democrat Graham Platner formally withdrew from his US Senate bid on Friday, ending his campaign with an F-bomb in his official withdrawal letter to state elections officials.
What did the Graham Platner’s withdrawal letter say?
Platner posted a picture of the letter on X, which did not share any immediate details about who he hoped would succeed him to face Republican incumbent Sen Susan Collins in November.
The letter touted the 156,084 votes he had received in Maine’s Senate Democratic primary last month, suggesting his more than 70-percentage-point win showed: “People are desperate for change.”
“Mainers voted for a new kind of politics,” the letter read. “One that is representative of people down here in the real world- not billionaires, oligarchs or the political establishment.”
It also stated, “Mainers voted for Medicare for All; to ban billionaires from buying elections; and for an end to taxpayer-funded genocide and forever wars.” The letter concluded, “F–k ICE. Free Palestine. Up the Hearts.”
Maine’s Secretary of State’s Office confirmed that “a formal notice has been received” from Platner declaring that he has dropped out of the race.
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Why did Platner withdraw and what are the allegations against him?
Platner, 41, announced the suspension of his campaign on Wednesday after his ex-girlfriend Jenny Racicot accused him of entering her home without permission and raping her in 2021.
Racicot, 41, said they had met through a dating app in 2019 and had previously been in a consensual relationship before the alleged assault, according to Politico. Platner called the accusation “troubling, serious and false,” adding, “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false.”
A second allegation has since emerged from another ex-girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield, who claimed Platner repeatedly removed condoms during sex without her consent, per The Washington Post.
He would pull condoms off,” she said. “He would do it in a sneaky way. He wouldn’t tell me.” She estimated this happened at least six times during their relationship, which ran from 2013 to 2015.
Platner’s campaign called Fifield’s claim “categorically false and politically motivated.”
Also Read: Graham Platner Nazi tattoo: Ex-girlfriend alleges Democrat knew exactly what it meant; ‘my Totenkopf’
What happens next for the senate race?
State party leaders now have until July 27 to organize a nominating convention for Platner’s successor, expected to include roughly 600 party delegates – 100 state committee members and 500 representatives picked proportionally by county committees, according to NY Post.
Several Democrats are hoping to replace him on the ballot, including former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, former public health official Nirav Shah, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, Maine Beer Co co-founder Dan Kleban, former Capitol Hill staffer Jordan Wood and social worker Paige Loud
Democratic Maine state Rep Valli Geiger has also expressed interest and claims Platner encouraged her to run.
