Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner released a video message Monday denying a new allegation of sexual assault from a woman he previously dated, minutes after the release of an article detailing the woman’s accusations.
Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident, dated Platner in 2021 and told Politico that he entered her home uninvited while heavily intoxicated and repeatedly forced himself on her. She claimed that Platner, running for a U.S. Senate seat, grabbed her and was “being really forceful” during the encounter.
Platner flatly denied the allegations in a video posted to X after canceling a number of planned campaign appearances. He called the woman’s accusations “troubling, serious, and false.”
“Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” said Platner, facing directly to camera.
The latest report from Politico follows a line of reporting into the Maine Senate candidate’s past that has slowly eroded his popularity and favorable image among voters in the state. A previous report from The New York Times in early June detailed experiences that women who dated Platner said they found troubling or concerning, and older reporting during the primary detailed a history of off-color comments, including sexist remarks, on his Reddit account.
Maine’s Democratic Party chapter released a statement Monday afternoon, calling on Platner to “withdraw as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.”
“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations about Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” read the statement signed by the party’s chair, vice chair and executive director.
“This 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 the powerful at the expense of ordinary Maine people. It is essential that we refocus the campaign on that struggle,” the statement continued.
Senate Democratic leadership followed suit, urging Platner to immediately withdraw. Some of his key backers, including Sens. Martin Heinrich and Elizabeth Warren, also joined the chorus.
“Graham 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,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chair Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement. “The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.”
The Times story had prompted damage control efforts by the Platner campaign including assurances to senators on Capitol Hill that there were no further damaging headlines coming that could derail Democrats’ best and perhaps only shot at winning the Maine Senate seat held by Republican Susan Collins, providing a path to the majority in the November midterms.
On a Discord server linked to Platner’s campaign on social media, and in private conversations, some former fans of Platner suggested that Troy Jackson, a former Maine state senator who ran unsuccessfully in the June gubernatorial primary with the endorsement of Vermont’s Independent Senator Bernie Sanders, could jump into the race if the embattled candidate withdrew.
“[Janet Mills] could unsuspend her campaign... but then there'd be the backlash that would inevitably ensue because he's viewed as somebody that's quite different than her,” a Maine Democratic source told The Independent Monday, referencing the state’s governor, who dropped out of the race against Platner.
“This is an incredibly difficult situation, no matter how you look at it,” said that source. “If he stays in the race, there's-- I think if you're hoping for a Democratic victory, there's the idea that maybe time and space will adjust, but this allegation certainly feels worse than the others, and not that the others weren't terrible to begin with.”
In his video statement Monday, Platner indicated that he and his team were taking time to reflect and decide a path forward, maintaining that while the allegations were false, he did not want to put his party at a disadvantage in November.
With Maine’s filing deadline only days away, Democrats would need to begin immediately searching and recruiting candidates for an alternative bid.
“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” said Platner.
Platner’s victory in Maine’s Senate primary last month was all but assured after Mills effectively dropped out of the race after trailing badly in the polls. Platner’s supporters, the party’s progressive wing, argued that his candidacy was the only one capturing the excitement and energy necessary to take down Maine’s longtime Senator Susan Collins, making him far more electable than his opponent.
The new allegations against Platner - and his decision to take time to reflect - had many, not just Mills’ supporters, fuming that such questions should have been answered already.
“I’m sorry but “we are taking time to reflect on the best path forward” is not an option on the table. Either it’s false and you campaign with vigor or it’s true and you get out / apologize to everyone you let down,” tweeted The Bulwark pundit Tim Miller.
If Platner remains, Maine is likely to be one of the most expensive races of the midterm elections as Republican leadership is prepared to spend hundreds of millions to keep Collins, 73, in her seat for a sixth term.
