Graham Platner withdrew from the Maine US Senate race on Friday afternoon, and Nirav Shah is among the contenders now jockeying for the Democratic nomination. Platner also filed paperwork to remove his name from the November ballot, forcing Maine Democrats to move quickly.
Platner had received more than 156,000 votes in the 9 June primary before his campaign unraveled over accusations of sexual assault, resurfaced old social media posts and questions about a since-removed tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi emblem. Maine Democrats now have days left to settle on a replacement before the 27 July deadline for November ballots.
Maine Democrats and the ballot deadline
Democrats are rushing to put together a nominating convention before that deadline because the party still needs a nominee to take on Susan Collins, the five-term Republican incumbent senator. Troy Jackson, Shenna Bellows and Nirav Shah have already begun jockeying for the nomination, making the replacement fight a compressed contest with no room for delay.
Platner had said two days earlier that he planned to exit the race. In an 11-minute video posted on Wednesday, he denied the sexual assault allegations, saying, "This is all false" and "The things that have been claimed did not happen. It’s not real." He also said the Democratic establishment was "using these allegations to take away all of the things we need to run a campaign."
Devon Murphy-Anderson on Platner
Devon Murphy-Anderson, the state party executive director, said Platner dropping out was "the right thing to do" and added that "The allegations that were brought against him were very real and they were very credible." That leaves the party to choose among the contenders already moving for the nomination, with the ballot deadline now setting the pace.
Platner also said in a letter shared on social media after he said he would exit the race, "My name may have been on the ballot, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine." He added, "People are desperate for change. For this broken system to be righted. For the American experiment to be furthered," putting the final public word on a campaign that had already absorbed the fallout from the posts, the tattoo questions and the assault allegations.
