{"id":4417,"date":"2026-07-13T14:09:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4417"},"modified":"2026-07-13T14:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T14:09:20","slug":"heres-how-graham-platners-implosion-might-help-democrats-chances-of-winning-back-the-senate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4417","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s how Graham Platner\u2019s implosion might help Democrats\u2019 chances of winning back the Senate"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The spectacular implosion of Graham Platner\u2019s high-profile campaign for Maine\u2019s U.S. Senate seat over a sex assault allegation has created a huge headache for Democrats in race that is seen as crucial to their long-shot fight to retake the Senate in the fall midterm elections.<\/p>\n

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Feuding Maine Democrats are squabbling over who will replace the scandal-tarred Platner and resume the fight to unseat five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a must-win contest in their uphill struggle to flip at least four GOP-held seats and grab back control from President Trump\u2019s allies.<\/p>\n

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At least a half-dozen candidates have thrown their hats in the ring as party leaders plan what could be a very contentious mini-convention to pick a replacement for Platner on the fall general election ballot.<\/p>\n

That confab is expected to be held on July 25, just 48 hours ahead of a July 27 deadline set by Maine law to replace Platner, who Friday filed paperwork to officially withdraw from the race.<\/p>\n

Conventional wisdom says Platner\u2019s headline-grabbing fall and the fingerpointing over his candidacy along with fierce factional disputes over a new candidate amount to an enormous setback in Democratic efforts to topple Collins and retake the Senate.<\/p>\n

Whoever wins the nomination will need to unite Democrats including both Platner\u2019s legion of loyal supporters and those who believe he used left-wing talking points to distract voters and pundits into looking past his shaky past.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a fiasco,\u201d said Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist. \u201cDemocrats have chosen the arrangement I\u2019ve seen often in my life: a circular firing squad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cMaine was the easiest pickup for Democrats,\u201d he added. \u201cNot a good start to the general election.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some establishment Democrats and analysts also say it\u2019s a warning sign about the danger of letting progressives play too big a role in picking candidates like Platner who may be unvetted and could have damaging personal skeletons in the closet.<\/p>\n

\u201cStop betting on vibe-based candidates with glaring red flags,\u201d said Emily Macklin of Emily\u2019s List, a group that promotes women candidates and had backed Gov. Janet Mills\u2019 losing primary campaign against Platner.<\/p>\n

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But other Democratic strategists and non-partisan political analysts counter that the pundits are missing a critical point.<\/p>\n

They say the opportunity to replace the toxic Platner with a less-controversial pick could actually improve their chances against Collins, who is the only Republican senator representing a state that voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024. That\u2019s especially true because the overall political environment is extremely grim for the GOP, with Trump\u2019s approval ratings far underwater.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince Democrats have been over-performing in races across the country, the party can still hope for victory in Maine assuming they can embrace and properly resource a candidate to replace Platner,\u201d said Basil Smikle, a Columbia University professor and Democratic strategist.<\/p>\n

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Among the likely candidates to replace Platner are Troy Jackson, Maine\u2019s former state Senate president and a onetime close Platner ally; Nirav Shah, a state public health official; and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who lost badly to Collins in 2014.<\/p>\n

Actor Patrick Dempsey, the hunky \u201cGrey\u2019s Anatomy\u201d star and Maine native, said he\u2019s not interested in a rumored run.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still unclear how the 600 delegates to the convention will be picked or how they will select a nominee, adding to the drama.<\/p>\n

Platner, 41, an gravel-voiced combat veteran and oysterman, took the state by storm when he joined the race last year with a message of working class populism. He drove Mills out of the race and cruised to a walkover primary win as voters looked past a shaky past, allegations of bad behavior with women and a Nazi-themed tattoo.<\/p>\n

Platner\u2019s support cratered last week when ex-girlfriend Jen Racicot went public with her claim that he drunkenly forced her to have sex after she told him to stop in 2021.<\/p>\n

The onetime rising star\u2019s\u00a011-minute video statement appeared to complicate the path forward because he lashed out at the party establishment for torpedoing his campaign, suggesting that he might not be planning to leave the political scene quietly.<\/p>\n

According to the statute, party officials may select a new nominee if a candidate who won the primary withdraws by 5 p.m. on July 13, a deadline Platner has now met.<\/p>\n

The political stakes are enormous.<\/p>\n

Democrats must hold their own seats and flip four GOP-held Senate seats to gain control of the 100-member chamber, which Republicans now hold by a 53-47 margin. Party leaders an analysts have long viewed Maine as a critical piece of the puzzle, because the state leans Democratic, along with swing state North Carolina, where Democratic ex-Gov. Roy Cooper is favored.<\/p>\n

Democrats also must hope to defeat GOP candidates in some combination of red states like Alaska, Ohio and Iowa.<\/p>\n

Smikle brushed off the fear that Democratic infighting in Maine between progressives who supported Platner and establishment forces could damage Democrats\u2019 chances in other states.<\/p>\n

In the Michigan Senate race, for example, Democrats are battling in a fierce primary between Rep. Haley Stevens, a moderate and strong supporter of Israel, and progressive Abdul El-Sayed, a former state lawmaker and losing candidate for governor.<\/p>\n

Sabato said the real message isn\u2019t related to ideological schisms, but rather the process of making sure outsider candidates don\u2019t have explosive baggage that may be hidden behind an attractive package like Platner\u2019s.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat politicos outside Maine have learned is, you must have thorough vetting of your candidates,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Feuding Maine Democrats are squabbling over who will replace the scandal-tarred Platner and resume the fight to unseat five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a must-win contest in their uphill struggle to flip at least four GOP-held seats and grab back control from President Trump’s allies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4417","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHere\u2019s how Graham Platner\u2019s implosion might help Democrats\u2019 chances of winning back the Senate - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=4417\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Here\u2019s how Graham Platner\u2019s implosion might help Democrats\u2019 chances of winning back the Senate - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Feuding Maine Democrats are squabbling over who will replace the scandal-tarred Platner and resume the fight to unseat five-term Republican Sen. 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