Top Democrats—including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and the Maine Democratic Party—called on Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner to withdraw from his race against Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on July 6 after he denied a new sexual assault allegation reported by Politico.
Platner said earlier in the evening in a video posted on X that his campaign was “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward.”
“I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious, and false allegations against me,” Platner said in the video. “Any accusation of nonconsensual behavior is categorically false.”
Politico reported on July 6 that Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident who said she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner for more than two years, alleged that he entered her home uninvited while intoxicated in late 2021 and forced himself on her despite her repeated objections. Racicot told the outlet she cut off contact with Platner after the alleged incident and did not file a police report.
Platner and his campaign denied the allegation in statements to Politico. The campaign’s statement said the allegations were “coached and coordinated by out of state establishment operatives” and noted the report’s timing a week before the state’s ballot deadline. The deadline for candidates to drop out of the contest with time for a party to replace a nominee is July 13.
Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), called the allegations “incredibly disturbing” in a joint statement, saying that “violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable.”
“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,” they said. “The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.”
Senate Majority PAC, the main super PAC aligned with Senate Democrats, also called on Platner to withdraw and said it’s redirecting resources away from the race.
“We believe the women who have come forward about Graham Platner, and we stand with the survivors who have shared their experiences at real personal cost,” spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement. “Having lost the trust of the people of Maine, Platner should withdraw from this Senate race.
“We continue to believe this seat is winnable if Platner is not on the ballot, but we cannot strategically continue to invest here when there is an expansive battleground map where these resources can help win a Democratic majority,” French said.
Maine Democratic Party leadership also called on Platner to withdraw in a statement signed by Chair Charlie Dingman, Vice Chair Imke Schessler, and Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson.
“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” the statement posted on X said. “The Maine Democratic Party leadership stands with women and survivors, and that principle does not bend based on party affiliation.”
Several Democrats who had endorsed Platner rescinded their support following the report, including Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), who campaigned with Platner ahead of the primary.
“The allegations against Graham Platner are troubling and deeply serious. I am rescinding my endorsement,” Gallego said in a post on X.
“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement,” Khanna said in a post on X.
Sen. Elizbeth Warren (D-Mass.), who had also endorsed him, said in a statement that, “There can be no tolerance for sexual assault. Working families are counting on Democrats to win the Senate election in Maine to unrig our economy and hold Donald Trump accountable. With so much at stake, the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside as the Democratic nominee and address these serious allegations outside this Senate race.”
In his roughly two-minute video, Platner stopped short of committing to remain in the race.
“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the report, 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,” he said. “Those were the goals when we launched this campaign, and they remain my goals today.”
He pointed to the 156,084 votes he received in the June 9 primary—which he called the most in the state’s primary history—and told supporters, “Throughout it all, you never turned your back on me. And I will not turn my back on you now.”
“Every one of you deserves to see that vision come to fruition, and see Susan Collins defeated,” he said. “And we will use every tool at our disposal to do so.”
The video followed the postponement of several Platner campaign events, including town halls scheduled in several towns such as Gorham, Maine—according to the Gorham Democratic Party.
Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran, won the Democratic primary on June 9 with more than 70 percent of the vote over Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign in April but remained on the ballot.
National Democratic leaders, including Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin and Schumer, had backed Platner within hours of his win, while the National Republican Senatorial Committee released an attack ad the same evening.
Racicot previously described Platner’s behavior as “reckless” and “unsettling” to The New York Times but told Politico she had not detailed the assault allegation at the time.
The New York Times reported last month allegations from Lyndsey Fifield, a Republican strategist who dated Platner, that he twisted her arm and engaged in other acts of physical aggression, claims that Platner denied. Platner has also faced scrutiny over sexually explicit messages sent to women during his marriage, past online posts for which he apologized, and a tattoo resembling a Nazi SS symbol that he said he had not understood and covered up in October 2025.
Democrats need to gain four seats to win Senate control and count Maine among their top targets. Collins, first elected in 1996, is seeking a sixth term. The general election is on Nov. 3.
The Platner campaign and Collins’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment from The Epoch Times prior to publication.
Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.
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