Will Graham Platner drop out?
There has never been any doubt in my mind that if Graham Platner starts looking like a loser, the Democrats will dump their “working class” nominee. His standing in polls has been steadily sinking – and who knows what’s going on in the internal polls, but it’s probably not good. They have until July 13th to replace him if he drops out, and if things are looking grim they’ll make sure he drops out by that time.
Now there is a new allegation about sexual assault in 2021, from a woman he used to date. In a way, I wish they’d held it back until after the 13th, but I think it came out now due to pressure from Democrats rather than Republicans. For the moment, Platner seems to be mulling it over. Maybe it’s a case of finding out what the Democrat powers-that-be will be offering him to leave the race:
Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner on Monday said he’s taking “time to reflect” on his campaign’s path forward after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021.
Platner, 41, and his campaign denied the accusations made by 41-year-old Maine resident Jenny Racicot in a Politico article published Monday. Politico reported that she accused Platner of sexual assault.
Note that the accusation was published in Politico, so you can be pretty sure this was pushed by Democrats. In a way, too bad. If he’s such a terrible candidate I would hope he would run and lose handily. But my guess is that the pressure, and the incentive (whatever is offered), will be enough to get him to drop out.
The Democrats who endorsed him have already disgraced themselves. Perhaps they’ve even sullied their brand in Maine, at least among Independents there. One can hope, anyway.
Who will replace him if he does drop out? They will need to name someone by July 27, according to the article. I suppose they could revert back to the safe-but-unexciting and elderly Janet Mills, who had originally opposed Platner but suspended her candidacy a while back due to lack of funds (and probably bad polls). They may not turn to Mills; I’m pretty sure there are younger Democrats who’d love the opportunity, but I don’t know who they are.
[ADDENDUM: Ace notes that apparently for the NY Times article that listed some of the sexual allegations against Platner, the current accuser had spoken to them while asking that her name be kept quiet, but the Times didn’t really report on the seriousness of her allegations. She says this made her come out now, and that she also is on the same side as Platner politically.
But the Times piece was published only one month ago. Platner has been a candidate since August of 2025 with huge visibility almost from the start, and became the Democrat nominee in late April. Why did the accuser wait so long? Politico quotes her as saying this:
“One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,” she said. “I just want the truth out there. I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person.”
I say that’s hogwash. I think she was willing to remain silent as long as the polls showed him in the lead, and she spoke out when it seemed like he would lose and wouldn’t drop out unless he was forced to do so.]
Typo in paragraph II trink for think.
One wonders, like with Gropey Joe Biden, why it took so long?
The pressure/incentive will be if you don’t drop out we will find a way to prosecute the alleged sexual assault.
Chases Eagles:
Thanks, fixed.
Martin:
Judging from the way the Democrats got Bernie Sanders to drop out of the 2020 race, I think carrots are more in order than sticks. A new fishing boat? A new house? Who knows? But I don’t think prosecution is on the table. More’s the pity.
I stand by my first comment about this clown last month, a zero with no chance to take out Collins. The State will be better off keeping a senior member of the Senate than going DSA, at least for now.
I hope he doesn’t drop out. The Dems own what he stands for.
Hunter Biden is available, I hear.
SHIREHOME:
I strongly believe he will be dropping out. The writing is on the wall.
Who will replace him if he does drop out?
Patrick Dempsey, I heard is a possibility. Ha!
I thought he was OK as an actor, but I never sought out any of his shows or films. I have seen him race several times at our local track. He used to race for Mazda, then switched to Porsche the last couple times I saw him.
It seems likely that Maine’s democrat leadership does not want to alienate its young base. So, I asked google’s a.i. for the names of the most prominent Democratic Socialists of America in Maine and it provided these:
Grayson Lookner, Ethan Strimling, Harlan Baker and Kate Sykes
I think the mentality of Democratic voters in our time is such that the latest will hardly bother them.
I agree that he will drop out. I think a lot of people weren’t paying any attention to Platner and the more they found out the less they liked, which is reflected in the drop in the polls. I think the Dems know he is a loser who will damage their party so they decided to pull the plug while there is still time to replace him. It does make those who endorsed him just a month ago look pretty foolish. Who would have guessed that a man who had a Totenkopf on his chest for 18 years might have skeletons elsewhere?
I think neo nails it. If Platner hadn’t fallen even to (and sometimes a little behind) Collins in the polls, this story would never had have seen the light of day.
This also suggests that, unless the accuser is trying operating on her own, Democrats were not particularly afraid of whatever Collins was going to drop on Platner in the fall. If they were, why not drop this before the primary?
Hillary Clinton has already expressed condolences over Platner’s upcoming suicide. Bad Sign.
Road Warrior, nailed it
Platner struck me as a no-hoper even in these degraded times.
Sometimes my optimism gets the better of me. Though not always.
Minor note … What I have read is Maine election law allows a party to put a replacement on the general election ballot if a previously nominated candidate *withdraws* by the end of business on July 13 this year (I don’t know if that’s a fixed date or variable based on time span) but they have another two weeks to find a replacement.
Christopher;
Does what Platner said recently….something about on hold or pause to reflect….count as “withdraw”? Is he waiting for the bidding to go up?
“…to reflect.”
Um, right.
Who would have guessed that jerk had a sense of humor?
Reflect? Reflect on what?
“Er, which one was she? Hmm. Gotta think about this. Maybe I should deny it…all of it…tell my wife that that chick is just hallucinating; that she’s jealous…”
Or, “Maybe I should get a new tat. What the heck, maybe restore the old one? The one they made me erase. It was my favorite…I’ll never forgive ‘em for that…”
Yeah, deep thoughts…
This whole story stinks to high hell and demonstrates that the demonrats will jump in bed with anyone – no matter how immoral, deceitful, dishonest or criminal or regardless of the political ideology (fascist, communist, KKK, Antifa, etc) of the candidate – as long as the demonrats believe the vermin candidate can win the election running as a demonrat.
The only goal demonrats have is achieving absolute power. They do not care how they obtain it or who they must support.
This is why they are silent about vermin like Mamdani or Platner because his goal is their goal. Of course those less-communist demonrats believe that in the end, they will prevail and not Mamdani’s bunch, but it will be the former that will be at the business end of the long daggers.
Recall what happened to those members of Lenin’s inner circle after he died or Hitler’s good pals who ran the SA. Even some of Castro’s good pals wound up against the wall and were shot.
The demonrats are greasing the skids for vermin like Mamdani or Platner or their ilk; they are enabling the ascension to power of those intent on destroying our republic.
Well, he’ll always be able to get a job at the SPLC…that is, if he gets tired of oysters…
What John Tyler said at 9:27 am.
“There is only the fight.”
– The Duchess of Chafington
Maine used to be a cool place. I’ve fished and bird-hunted it, bought a couple good antiques there. Had a Registered Maine Guide, a title which is not a minor achievement. He was from NJ, lived inland where Maine had not changed for a long time. He was “from away” but generally accepted.
But the Democratic evils are infectious and I won’t be going back.
Well, there are still the lobsters. Few things are tastier than a freshly-caught one, boiled then dipped in drawn butter with a touch of lemon juice.
Good take neo, on why the accuser “suddenly” came out now. Do Democrats *ever* do anything honestly? I suspect sometimes they are gaslighting just to keep in practice.
Neo: I think she was willing to remain silent as long as the polls showed him in the lead, and she spoke out when it seemed like he would lose and wouldn’t drop out unless he was forced to do so.
Pervy: I think she was pressured by the Dem party to remain silent as long as the polls showed him in the lead, and they pressured her to speak out when it seemed like he would lose and wouldn’t drop out unless he was forced to do so.
Marginal Revolution notes how prediction markets jumped way up, like from less than 10 to over 90% chance he drops, AND increased the chances of Dems winning the House, by some 10% or so to 63%.
He’ll drop, and some Dem org will reward him.
I think the Rep hating girlfriend wanted to Not Think About It, how she was assaulted. But didn’t report it to police, not sure how much to friends. But then, claiming Trump and Reps are terrible to women, but having her own abuser in office, created increased internal pressure on her to, in her words, get the T Truth out, even if it means the Dems lose that seat.
She has to live with herself. She failed, herself, in not reporting him earlier. She’s stuck with that, but like I don’t like to think of my own personal failures, she tries not to think of it. Was successful at Moving On, but now can’t avoid seeing it, and realizing her current silence is in contradiction to her likely vocal claims to her friends that the male abusers should be named and shamed.
Cognitive dissonance. Had Platner never run, she could have lived without thinking of him, and even justify not reporting him while still claiming victims should report abusers. Once he runs, every article that mentions him reminds her of her own complicity. She knows, by her experience, that he’s guilty. She knows, with every article, that she’s guilty, and remains guilty until she confesses her guilt with a public complaint. Her confession & public accusation is her punishment but also her absolution.
She will now be forever more comfy with herself.
Likely some other Dem women she had told her complaints to had reminded her that she had, already, confessed anonymously to the NYT. But that wasn’t enough.
Maybe even the Times contact told her that they wouldn’t be able to keep her anonymous, and it makes look really bad if she wasn’t public now, before it’s too late.