US Democrat Graham Platner withdraws from Maine's US Senate race amid sexual assault allegations

Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner dropped out of Maine's US Senate race on Wednesday after allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman he dated in 2021.

Platner denied the allegations in a video posted on US social media company X.

"This is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It's not real," he said.

Platner said he learned of the allegations through media inquiries and criticized what he described as a rush to judgment.

"I learned about this through press inquiries with no time to truly respond, no time for investigations, before a corporate media system and the political establishment got to act as judge, jury and executioner," he said. "Accusations are supposed to be the beginning of things, not the end."

Platner said he decided to end his campaign after Democratic Party leaders and major donors withdrew their support.

He said Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told him the party's campaign arm had warned that the national party would not invest in the Maine Senate race if he remained on the ballot.

"Larger organizations, the national-level party, the bigger donor networks, they have all committed to spending no money in this race if I'm in it," Platner said. "They would rather see (Republican Sen.) Susan Collins win than have me be the next Senator from Maine."

Platner said he filed the paperwork to withdraw from the race Wednesday and suspended campaign operations.

"This is incredibly difficult because I know that some will think it's an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not," he said. "We're not doing it because of the allegations, we're doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power."

Under Maine law, the state's Democratic Party has until July 27 to select a replacement nominee.

Party officials said in a statement they will hold a nominating convention before the deadline to choose a candidate to challenge incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.

"There is an unprecedented amount of energy and enthusiasm among Maine Democrats, driven in part by many of the dedicated volunteers and supporters who were inspired by Graham Platner's campaign," the statement said. "We look forward to coming together and harnessing that energy around our new nominee as we work to defeat Susan Collins in November."