Maine Democrats still have time to replace Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner before the November 3rd midterm elections — but the window for a switch-a-roo is closing fast.
On Monday, POLITICO dropped a bombshell report from the Democratic candidate’s ex-girlfriend claiming he entered her home uninvited and then raped her almost five years ago.
Platner denied the alleged sexual assault, but said he is “mindful” of the political reality and is “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward.”
The report follows Platner quietly canceling multiple Maine Senate campaign events.
Democrats need to win the Maine Senate race and defeat GOP incumbent Susan Collins for a real shot at winning back the Senate majority. Maine still has a chance to dump Platner and choose a new Democratic nominee — as long as Platner decides to drop out by July 13.
Under Maine election rules, the Democratic Party can make a swap similar to the change from Joe Biden to Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election — with the candidate not having to win any primary.
If Platner withdraws by July 13 at 5 p.m., party officials can pick a new candidate.
The deadline to choose the replacement candidate is 5 p.m. on July 27, giving Democrats two weeks to decide on their best backup candidate to run in the general election campaign.
This would give the new candidate 99 days to campaign — eight days shorter than Harris’ sudden 2024 presidential run.
According to Maine Statue, it does not address how a replacement candidate may be chosen, but says that the candidate filling the vacancy must be a “qualified person.”
One Maine resident posted on X that he received a survey by text on Monday — before the POLITICO report was released — asking about a replacement candidate for Platner.
The survey shared that “some have suggested that Democrat Brian Bryant will step in to replace Platner on the ballot” and asked respondents to answer who they’d vote for between Collins and Bryant, a labor union official, and about Maine election laws. There was no indication of who was sponsoring the text in the survey.
Another name floating around for replacement is Troy Jackson — a progressive Democrat — who ran for Maine governor but lost and is a former state senator. Jackson received endorsements from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) for his gubernatorial run.
Gov. Janet Mills is another option, but Platner soundly defeated her in the primary.
As of Monday, Platner is still the Democratic nominee, and the Democratic Party has not stated any plan to swap Platner as their candidate. However, it is expected that some lawmakers will rethink their endorsements of the Senate hopeful.
Khanna withdrew his endorsement and called for him to drop out two hours after the report came out.
“These allegations are very serious and credible,” Khanna wrote on X. “Graham Platner should drop out from the race.”
A Fox News poll, conducted June 23-27 — occurring before the sexual assault claims but after other allegations arose — Collins is ahead of Platner by three points, 50 to 47%
Platner previously has lost confidence from Democrats after ex-girlfriends reported alleged women-hating behavior from him, leaked sexting scandals, old offensive Reddit posts and a now-covered up tattoo that resembles a Nazi symbol.
