A high-stakes U.S. Senate race in Maine has been thrown into chaos following a new sexual assault allegation against Democratic nominee Graham Platner, prompting top party figures and national Democratic leaders to publicly demand he exit the contest ahead of November’s pivotal midterm elections. The accuser, 41-year-old Jenny Racicot, shared detailed allegations in a series of interviews with Politico published Monday, marking the most serious claim to emerge against Platner in a growing string of controversies that have roiled his campaign over recent weeks.
Racicot told Politico she had an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Platner spanning more than two years before the alleged 202X incident. According to her account, Platner entered her Maine home uninvited while heavily intoxicated and assaulted her sexually. After she explicitly told him the encounter was non-consensual, Racicot said she cut off all contact with him permanently.
Racicot was originally among the women interviewed for an earlier New York Times report published ahead of Maine’s Democratic primary, where three former girlfriends accused Platner of patterns of erratic and aggressive behavior. She chose not to go public with her assault claim at that time, explaining she did not want to be publicly identified as a rape victim. But after widespread public controversy surrounding the Times’ initial reporting, Racicot said she felt compelled to share her full account publicly.
Platner, a former combat Marine and commercial oyster farmer who won the Democratic nomination to challenge four-decade incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins, has forcefully denied the sexual assault allegation, calling it “categorically false.” Despite the denial, he acknowledged in a social media video statement released hours after Politico published the report that he is pausing to evaluate his political future. “Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful 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. In the days following the report, Platner’s campaign has postponed all public events scheduled for this week, and the BBC confirmed it has reached out to his team for additional comment with no further response as of press time.
This latest allegation is far from the first controversy to upend Platner’s campaign. Earlier this year, reports emerged of a chest tattoo he received in 2007 while drinking with fellow Marines in Croatia that closely resembled the Totenkopf, or death’s head symbol used by Nazi SS forces during World War Two. Platner later said he had the tattoo removed after recognizing the problematic resemblance. Old Reddit posts from 14 years ago were also unearthed, in which Platner argued sexual assault victims should “take some responsibility for themselves” and avoid excessive intoxication. Platner later apologized for the comment, asking voters to judge him by his current character rather than a decade-old offhand remark. Most recently, reports that Platner exchanged sexually explicit messages with women outside his marriage were published, which Platner acknowledged were true, saying he had made mistakes early in his marriage that he and his wife had since worked through together.
In the wake of Monday’s new sexual assault allegations, prominent Democrats across the country have rapidly withdrawn their endorsements and called for Platner to drop out of the race immediately. Former Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile wrote on the social platform X that “It’s time for Mr. Platner to step aside and be replaced by July 13th. Platner needs time to heal, focus on his family and well-being. Enough. Enough.” U.S. Representatives Ruben Gallego and Ro Khanna, both fellow Democrats, also pulled their support, with Khanna saying “the report [is] serious and credible… Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.” Even the Maine Democratic Party, the official state organization that backed Platner’s nomination, issued a statement calling for his withdrawal. “Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” the party’s leadership said. “Maine Democratic Party leadership is calling on Graham Platner to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.”
The Maine Senate race is widely viewed as one of the most critical pickup opportunities for Democrats as they mount an uphill longshot bid to flip control of the U.S. Senate from Republicans in the 2024 midterm elections. Collins, the Republican incumbent, has held her seat for nearly 30 years and repeatedly fended off Democratic challenges, even as Maine has not backed a Republican presidential candidate since 1988. A Platner withdrawal would force the Maine Democratic Party to nominate a replacement candidate in less than a week, per party deadlines, putting their bid to unseat Collins in serious jeopardy just months before voting begins.