By Eesha Pendharkar | Senior Reporter
“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”- Graham Platner, on dropping out of the race for U.S. Senate following sexual assault allegations against him.
U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner claims victory in the Democratic primary during a watch party in Blue Hill on June 9, 2026. (By Emma Davis/ Maine Morning Star)
By Emma Davis
Democratic nominee Graham Platner dropped out of Maine’s U.S. Senate race on Wednesday, two days after an accusation of sexual assault tanked support from his party. Platner’s exit clouds Democrats’ hopes of winning back the U.S. Senate majority, as Maine’s seat long held by Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is seen as crucial for that aim. The state party is tasked to replace him in just a few weeks time.
By Emma Davis and Eesha Pendharkar
County-level Democrats are mobilizing to determine how to choose delegates to send to the approximately 600-person convention the Maine Democratic Party intends to hold later this month to select Graham Platner’s replacement as the party’s U.S. Senate nominee.
By Kaitlyn Budion
With Graham Platner’s withdrawal Wednesday from Maine’s U.S. Senate race, at least seven Democrats are vying to replace him. That list includes former gubernatorial candidates Shenna Bellows, Troy Jackson and Nirav Shah; former congressional candidate Paige Loud; and former Senate candidates Dan Kleban, David Costello and Jordan Wood.
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