The Maine Democratic Party reiterated its call for Graham Platner to drop out of the Senate race Tuesday, sharing the embattled politician will have “no role” in determining his successor.
Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson released a video update on X Tuesday, in which she addressed the status of the Maine Senate race following newfound rape allegations against Platner. In her message, Murphy-Anderson assured voters that the Maine Democratic Party was “working around the clock to develop a process to replace our U.S. Senate nominee that is open, inclusive, transparent and fair.”
She added: “The integrity of this process is just as important as the outcome, and we are committed to ensuring that Democrats across our state can have confidence in both.”
As Murphy-Anderson went on, she accused Platner’s team of “repeatedly” reaching out to them “in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale” to influence what the process looks like.
“We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like,” she noted. “We have also reiterated that Graham Platner must drop out of this race so that Democrats in Maine can focus on defeating Susan Collins this November.”
Before signing off her statement, Murphy-Anderson stated that the Maine Democratic Party would make the succession process public “as soon as Graham Platner formally withdraws from this race.”
You can watch her full video statement below. A representative for Platner did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Though, a campaign official did tell NBC News Tuesday, “The Platner campaign has reached out to the party to try and understand what this process would look like. At no point has the campaign tried to ‘put its finger on the scale.’ Over 150,000 Mainers voted for this movement, and over 15,000 Mainers volunteered their time and energy to it. While Graham wouldn’t want to be a part of the process, he would want to make sure the voters and volunteers make this decision — not the political establishment.”
Calls for Platner to withdraw from the race have mounted in the wake of Politico’s bombshell report, in which the Senate hopeful’s ex Jenny Racicot accused him of sexual assault. The controversy followed several other scandals that have already plagued his campaign, including allegations of extramarital sexting, a Nazi tattoo, physical misconduct and offensive remarks.
Yet, the Politico report appeared to be the breaking point for Platner’s biggest supporters, as Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Senator Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), the “Pod Save America” hosts and more all called for him to exit the senate race this week.
The Maine Democratic Party issued their own statement Monday, in which they called on Platner to exit the race and voiced support for his alleged victims.
While Platner has said that he is “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love,” he’s yet to formally exit the race. He did, however, deny Racicot’s claims as “troubling, serious and false.”
