Graham Platner suspends campaign for Senate seat in Maine

Graham Platner said he would end his bid for a U.S. Senate seat in Maine on Wednesday, two days after a woman accused the Democrat of sexually assaulting her.

Platner’s withdrawal came after a controversy that began on Monday, the Bangor Daily News reported. Politico and CNN reported that Jenny Racicot, 41, a Maine woman who dated him on and off for more than two years, said he forced her to have sex with him in 2021 despite her repeated objections.

The Maine Democratic Party and national figures disavowed his campaign almost instantly, the Daily News reported.

In a video posted to social media on Wednesday night, Platner said that the allegations against him were false but that he was suspending his campaign and would file paperwork to withdraw.

“We believe that for the movement to continue, it can’t be me,” Platner said during his 11-minute, 16-second video. “We are suspending campaign operations. This is incredibly difficult, because I know that some will think it’s an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not.

“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. We live in a political system that is not built for normal people. It is a system built structurally to make sure that movements like ours cannot flourish.”

Platner said the process to replace him needs to be “open, transparent and democratic” and to reflect the will and values of people who supported him. He also criticized Democratic leaders in Washington who had called for him to drop out of the race.

“People in D.C. need to stay in D.C.,” Platner said in his video. “Decisions should not be made by people in places of political power.”

Platner’s decision creates uncertainty as Democrats looked at Maine as an important race, The New York Times reported. Party leaders believe that defeating Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican, is crucial to their efforts to reclaim control of the Senate.

The Maine Democratic Party will hold a convention to choose a new nominee by July 27, which is Maine’s mandated deadline.

Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran, was making his first bid for office, the Daily News reported. He entered the Senate race in August 2025 and took on two-term Gov. Janet Mills, who had the backing of national party leaders.

Mills dropped out of the race in April, and Platner received 72% of the votes in June’s primary.

But controversy dogged Platner from the start.

Posts he made to Reddit became public last fall, the Daily News reported. They included comments that were dismissive of women’s fears about rape, and remarks believed to be inflammatory toward rural white Americans and Black people.

Platner’s chest tattoo resembling the skull-and-crossbones symbol adopted by Nazis surfaced after that, and the candidate said he got it in 2007 while deployed abroad with the Marines, the newspaper reported.

Platner said he did not realize the tattoo’s significance and had it covered.

Days before the primary, The Wall Street Journal reported that Platner had exchanged sexually explicit texts with other women early in his marriage to Amy Gertner, who had disclosed the messages to his campaign. The Times interviewed several of Platner’s former girlfriends, who described“toxic” behavior, including examples of physical intimidation.

Platner said in his video that “the ball is now in the court of the Democratic establishment.”

“My name might be on the ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine, and on Nov. 3, it needs to belong to the people of Maine, and the next Democratic senator for Maine needs to belong to the people of Maine,” he said.

© 2026 Cox Media Group