Top Democrats are pushing Maine Senate candidate to drop out of race amid sexual assault allegations

“Regardless of the accuracy of the report, but given the political reality it brings, we have taken time to reflect on the state I love, the people I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Plattner said in a video statement on social media shortly after the story was published by Politico.

Prominent Democrats in the Senate, along with the Maine Democratic Party, called for Plattner’s “immediate resignation.”

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement: “The allegations reported today are incredibly disturbing — assault, battery and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable.”

The Democratic senator’s campaign committee — which has contributed millions of dollars to the party’s candidates — said it “will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Plattner remains on the ballot.”

The list of Democrats calling for him to drop out of the race grew Monday night, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, Elissa Slokey, and three supporters in the party — Congressman Ro Cana and Sens. Martin Heinrich and Ruben Gallego.

Plattner’s campaign has postponed several events scheduled for this week. The BBC has been asked to comment on the campaign.

Plattner is set to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who has won three decades of political challenges, in November’s congressional elections.

The race is one of many Democrats eyeing a long-term bid to wrest control of the Senate in the midterms. No Republican has carried Maine in a presidential election since 1988.

Adding to the pressure on the party, Plattner has until July 13 to withdraw from the race to have his name removed from the state’s ballot and replaced by another candidate.

Jenny Racicot, 41, said she thought Planner was very drunk.

Racicot said she ended the relationship with Plattner after he told her the encounter was not consensual.

In response to a controversial New York Times story in which several women claimed to have molested Platner, she said she was forced to go public about her experiences.

The report details the filing of three ex-girlfriends who accused him of wrongdoing and angry behavior last month. It was published before the primary race in the state.

Racicot told Politico that she was one of the women interviewed but did not want to go public with her claims because she did not want to be accused of being raped.

Plattner denied the allegations and refused to withdraw from the race.

Following Monday’s report detailing the new allegations, some Democrats called for him to step aside ahead of the November election.

Donna Brazile, political strategist and former head of the Democratic National Committee on X: “It’s time for Mr. Plattner to step aside and be replaced on July 13. Plattner needs time to heal, focus on his family and his safety. Enough is enough. Enough is enough.”

In March, two lawmakers who supported Plattner withdrew their endorsements, calling the allegations “disturbing and serious,” with Sen. Gallego and Heinrich calling them “appalling.” Rep. Khanna, who attended rallies with Plattner and was considered a staunch supporter, described the report as serious and credible, saying: “Graham Plattner should drop out, I’m withdrawing my endorsement.”

Meanwhile, the Maine Democratic Party has also called for him to step aside.

“Over the past several weeks, several women have come forward with serious and credible allegations against Graham Plattner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” the state’s political party said in a statement. “Leadership of the Maine Democratic Party is calling for Graham Platner to run for the Democratic nomination for United States Senate.”

Plattner faced several other controversies during the campaign.

There were reports of a Nazi insignia-like tattoo on his chest which sparked a backlash. Then came the comments on the website denying the rape. And stories about him being unfaithful to his wife were leaked to American news outlets.

As for the tattoo, Plattner said it covered something resembling a “Totenkopf” – German for “death’s head” – used by Nazi forces during World War II. In the year He said he got the tattoo in Croatia in 2007 while drinking with other Marines.

Old Reddit posts show Plattner saying that victims of sexual assault “need to take some responsibility for themselves” and not get too drunk. Plattner apologized to constituents after the posts were discovered.

“Maine, I ask you not to judge me for the bad things I said on the Internet, on my bad day 14 years ago, but for who I am and what I promise to be as a senator,” he said in an announcement.

And Plattner admitted to the allegations that he exchanged sexually explicit texts on the messaging app with women outside of his marriage.

“I made mistakes early in our marriage, and Amy held me accountable for them, and we worked through them, and the work we did made our marriage stronger, and what we are today is an incredibly loyal and happy couple,” Plattner said in an interview on MS Now.