Politics
Graham Platner can be replaced on the ballot if he withdraws in the next week. If he does, Maine Democrats would face an uncertain two-week race to choose a replacement.
Graham Platner speaks to supporters in Blue Hill, Maine, after winning the Democratic nomination for the Senate on Tuesday night, June 9, 2026. SOPHIE PARK
July 7, 2026 | 11:12 AM
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Democrats begin pulling Platner endorsements after Maine candidate faces sexual assault allegation
Graham Platner can be replaced as the Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine if he withdraws from the race by Monday, and state law would then give the state Democratic Party until July 27 to name a replacement.
Maine Democrats would be in uncharted terrain if Platner does exit the contest after a Politico report that he sexually assaulted a woman he had dated. He denied the allegation but said he was taking time to “reflect” on his political path forward.
Maine law does not dictate what process the state Democratic Party would use to replace Platner should he step aside, according to Kate McBrien, the chief of staff to Shenna Bellows, Maine’s secretary of state.
The chair of the Maine Democratic Party, Charles Dingman, and other Maine Democratic Party leaders posted a statement on social media calling on Platner to quit the race. Dingman did not immediately respond to messages Monday afternoon.
Top Maine Democratic Party officials have discussed possible plans to replace Platner on the ballot, with options including a pop-up convention on the weekend of July 25 to choose a nominee or holding a statewide caucus to effectively redo the party’s primary election, according to two people who have talked with the officials and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party conversations.
Officials have ruled out having the state party’s committee, which includes about 100 members, choose the nominee, the people said.
Platner won Maine’s Democratic primary for Senate last month after his top rival, Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign weeks earlier, citing poor fundraising. McBrien said she was unaware of any precedent in which a Maine candidate had won their primary and then withdrawn before the general election.
Should Platner withdraw by Monday, the leading candidates to replace him could potentially include the Democrats who ran for governor and did not win the primary.
They include Bellows; Troy Jackson, a former president of the Maine Senate; and Nirav Shah, a former director of Maine’s public health agency. Jordan Wood, who lost a primary for a House district covering northern Maine, is also a potential candidate.
Mills is seen as less likely to be selected. She did not respond to messages Monday.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
