Democrat Graham Platner has dropped out of the Maine Senate race amid allegations of sexual harassment
The Maine Democratic Party has announced that it will elect a new candidate at a convention held in the next two weeks. Media reports indicate that hundreds of delegates will consider the choice.
The party will have to tread carefully in selecting a successor who is consistent with the policies that Platner successfully ran on, while making sure that the new candidate can handle Collins and his daunting task.
“There is unprecedented energy and enthusiasm among Maine Democrats, driven in part by the many dedicated volunteers and supporters inspired by Graham Platner’s campaign,” the party said in a statement after Platner’s departure.
“We look forward to meeting and leveraging that energy in our new nominee as we work to defeat Susan Collins in November,” the statement said.
Platner said in his video announcement on Wednesday that the process “needs to reflect the will and values of the people who make up this organization” in Maine and added that “the people of DC need to stay in DC. Decisions should not be made in the back rooms by people in political power”.
On Tuesday, Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon-Murphy Anderson accused Platner’s campaign of trying to put “a thumbs up on the scale of what this process looks like”.
“We have repeatedly said to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining the next Democratic candidate for the US Senate, or in determining what the process looks like,” said Anderson.
In the past few days, Senate hopefuls have expressed their interest in shutting Platner out of the election. On Wednesday, it seemed like every Maine politician out there was gunning for the Senate.
Public health expert Nirav Shah, who entered Maine’s gubernatorial race earlier this year, has announced he will run, as has former congressman Troy Jackson.
Jordan Wood, who ran for a US House seat in Maine earlier this year, has now switched to the Senate race.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said she’s “still thinking” and Dan Kleban, the founder of Maine Beer Company who launched his first Senate campaign last year, announced Wednesday, “I’m in.”
Television actor Patrick Dempsey, who starred in the US soap opera Grey’s Anatomy, spoke about the possible request on Wednesday in a newspaper column.
“As I thought about all of this, I kept coming back to one question: Do I really want to serve in Congress?” he wrote. “After much thought, I realized that the answer is no. Not because public service is not honorable – it is. But because I believe that I can contribute effectively with the life I have already built.”
Mills, who was Platner’s rival in the Democratic primary and for governor, had the support of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer but suspended his campaign before the election as he struggled to gain power.
Platner officially won the Democratic nomination on June 9 as Maine voters, frustrated by the party’s establishment, focused on his outsider personality and popular opinion. It is unclear whether Mills will renew his campaign after Platner’s announcement.
