(The Center Square) — Disgraced candidate Graham Platner has formally dropped out of Maine’s U.S. Senate race as the state’s Democratic Party scrambles to find a replacement.
In a letter to the Maine Secretary of State’s office late Friday, Platner said he is “withdrawing” his candidacy, challenging incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the November elections.
Platner said while he is bowing out of the Senate race the political newcomer plans to continue with the “movement” he built on the campaign trail. He said “156,084 Mainers voted for a new kind of politics” in the June 9 Democratic primary, ticking off a list of progressive issues from taxing the rich to pushing for universal healthcare.
“People are desperate for change,” Platner, an ex-Marine, wrote in the one-page letter, posted on social media. “For this broken system to be righted. For the American experiment to be furthered. Over the past eleven months, thousands and thousands of Mainers poured their hearts, time and talent into a movement to deliver that vision. I will be forever grateful to them.”
He ended the letter with “F*ck ICE. Free Palestine. Up the Hearts” and signed it with “Solidarity forever.”
Platner, whose meteoric rise shocked the Democratic political establishment, exited the race Wednesday night after a former girlfriend accused the oyster farmer, in interviews with Politico and CNN, of raping her while intoxicated during an incident five years ago. He has vehemently denied the claims, but was pressured by top Democrats to step down.
Secretary of State’s Shenna Bellows office issued a statement Friday confirming that a “formal notice” has been received from Platner but said “a public declaration is not an official withdrawal, and a candidate must formally withdraw in writing to the Elections office, including signature.” Platner will not appear on the ballot, the statement said.
Bellows’ office noted that Maine Statute doesn’t address how a replacement candidate may be chosen by a party, only that the candidate filling the vacancy must be a “qualified person.”
“Announcements about how a replacement candidate will be chosen or when that candidate will be announced will come from the political party,” the statement said.
Bellows is one of several candidates that have filed paperwork to run for the Senate seat now that Platner has dropped out of the race. She jumped into the race late Thursday.
Other Democratic hopefuls include former Senate President Troy Jackson, an Allagash logger, and Dr. Nariv Shah, the former director of the state Center for Disease Control.
The Democratic Party is planning to hold a special convention next week to pick a replacement. Democrats have until July 27 to nominate a new candidate.
The race is considered key to Democrats’ push to retake the Senate — where Republicans currently have a 53-47 majority — in the midterms.
