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.]