Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner is facing mounting pressure to withdraw from one of the party’s most important midterm races after a former partner accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021, allegations he has categorically denied.
The accusation, first reported by Politico, prompted the Maine Democratic Party and several prominent national Democrats to call on Platner to end his campaign, threatening Democratic hopes of unseating Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a race considered critical to the party’s bid to regain control of the Senate.
Jenny Racicot, 41, of Maine, told Politico that Platner entered her home uninvited while intoxicated in late 2021 and forced her to have sex despite her repeated objections. Racicot said she ended their on-and-off relationship after the incident. According to the report, she had previously described the alleged assault in emails to her therapist and warned an acquaintance about Platner years before he became a Senate candidate.
Platner denied the allegations, saying any claim that he engaged in nonconsensual conduct is "categorically untrue." In a separate statement, he called the accusations "troubling, serious and false" and said he was consulting with his family and campaign team. His campaign canceled scheduled public events in the coming days.
The allegations come at a pivotal moment in the race. Collins, a five-term Republican senator, is seeking reelection in a state Democrats view as one of their best opportunities to flip a Senate seat in November.
Graham Platner
(Photo: CJ GUNTHER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
Platner, 41, is an oyster farmer and former Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Running as a progressive outsider with endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, he defeated more established Democratic rivals despite having no previous political experience.
Supporters have portrayed him as a champion of working-class voters frustrated with Washington, while critics argue his string of controversies has made him an increasingly risky nominee in a race where Democrats are expected to need a near-flawless candidate to defeat Collins.
The sexual assault allegation is the latest in a series of controversies that have dogged Platner's campaign.
Platner sporting a Nazi SS Totenkopf tattoo on his chest
In recent months, old social media posts resurfaced in which he made offensive remarks about women, police officers and minority groups and appeared to downplay the seriousness of sexual assault. He also acknowledged previously wearing a tattoo linked to the Nazi SS Totenkopf division, saying he got it in 2007 while on leave as a Marine in Croatia without knowing its meaning before later covering it with another tattoo.
Platner's wife, Amy Gertner, also told campaign advisers she discovered sexually explicit messages he had sent to other women during their marriage. The couple later appeared together publicly, describing the matter as a private marital crisis that had been addressed through counseling. Platner has apologized for some of his past statements, saying he was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and heavy drinking after his military service.
Platner has also emerged as one of the Democratic Party's most outspoken critics of Israel. He has described Israel's war in Gaza as "genocide," backed restricting U.S. military aid to Israel and argued Washington should not enable what he called the "mass killing of children." He has also praised, from a military perspective, a 2014 Hamas attack near Kibbutz Nahal Oz that killed Israeli soldiers, describing it as a "successful" raid against a stronger adversary.
Platner and wife Amy Gertner
(Photo: AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Late Monday, the Maine Democratic Party formally called on Platner to withdraw. "Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner," the party said in a statement. "Today's statements take those allegations even further. Maine Democratic Party leadership is calling on Graham Platner to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate."
Under Maine law, Democrats can replace Platner on the November ballot if he withdraws by July 13. After that deadline, replacing the party's nominee would become significantly more difficult.