{"id":6668,"date":"2026-07-08T12:07:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:07:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6668"},"modified":"2026-07-08T12:07:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T12:07:09","slug":"in-maine-voters-consider-their-options-as-they-await-platners-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6668","title":{"rendered":"In Maine, voters consider their options as they await Platner\u2019s decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the embattled Democratic Senate nominee under pressure to leave the key race, other politicians are maneuvering to replace him on the ballot. <\/strong><\/p>

Read more Questions remain about defense strategy for man accused of killing Charlie Kirk<\/a><\/p>\n

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Campaign workers put up a sign before Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at a town hall on June 7 in Portland, Maine. (Laura Brett\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

SCARBOROUGH, Maine \u2014 Though Maine\u2019s beleaguered U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner has so far ignored growing calls to drop out of the race, many Democratic voters in the state are looking ahead to the crop of politicians vying to replace him on the ballot.<\/p>\n

The skirmish has already become messy as a crowded field of Democrats is making moves behind the scenes to position themselves for an uncertain process, with some publicly expressing interest in taking on five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins before Platner has withdrawn.<\/p>\n

Platner has withstood a number of controversies, including revelations that he had a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol and was accused of violent behavior by ex-girlfriends. On Monday, a woman who used to date Platner said he sexually assaulted her in late 2021<\/a>. Platner denied the allegation, but many supporters <\/b>who said they previously stood with him are now urging him to drop out.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was willing to allow him to be imperfect, but this is too much for me,\u201d Laurie Alves, a 51-year-old mother of three daughters who lives south of Portland, said in an interview Tuesday. \u201cI would not want him representing my family.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, a second ex-girlfriend told The Washington Post <\/a>that Platner repeatedly removed protection without her consent when they were having sex. The campaign called the claim \u201ccategorically false and politically motivated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prominent state and national Democrats are pressuring Platner to quit the race<\/a> by Monday, the last day under state law that would allow the party to select a replacement candidate. If he drops out, the Maine Democratic Party would have two weeks to name a new nominee.<\/p>\n

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Platner stands at the microphone during a campaign event in May in Portland, Maine. (Joe Raedle\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Democrats are trying to stay focused on defeating Collins, an uphill battle that is nevertheless critical to their long-shot prospects of flipping control of the Senate in November. The party must win four seats held by Republicans to win back the chamber.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s been wringing her hands for 30 years,\u201d said John Raby, 82. \u201cPlatner may be over, but the campaign isn\u2019t over.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raby saw Platner speak in person three times. When he learned about the sexual assault allegation on Monday, Raby said, \u201cI felt like somebody had punched me in the gut.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said any of the three Democrats who lost the gubernatorial primary in June \u2014 Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former state Senate president Troy Jackson and former public health official Nirav Shah \u2014 would be a good replacement for Platner.<\/p>

Read more Denmark says it will defend Greenland as Trump threatens to revive NATO crisis<\/a><\/p>\n

All three have expressed interest. Jackson said he viewed himself as the \u201cbest person\u201d to replace Platner and launched an exploratory committee. Shah laid out the process he would like to see to choose a new nominee, including a televised debate. Bellows issued a statement Tuesday night saying she \u201cwill seriously consider entering this race\u201d if Platner exits.<\/p>\n

Other possible candidates include Dan Kleban, the owner of Maine Brewing Company who briefly ran for the Senate last year, and David Costello, who finished third in the primary and said Tuesday that he\u2019s \u201cback in, if Graham Platner withdraws.\u201d<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, Platner and his campaign team are maneuvering to maintain influence over the selection of a replacement.<\/p>\n

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Platner addresses supporters during a primary election night event on June 9 in Blue Hill, Maine. (CJ Gunther\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Some of his supporters quickly rallied behind Jackson, whom they argue would best carry on the populist agenda that drew voters to Platner. Both were endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who urged Platner to leave the race on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Penelope Hamblin, 75, a retired librarian who lives in Scarborough, sent the Platner campaign a $25 check after Sanders\u2019s endorsement. She was initially energized by a charismatic candidate with momentum who was drawing crowds around Maine.<\/p>\n

With early scandals, such as the emergence of old social media posts where Platner downplayed sexual assault and made other inflammatory comments, Hamblin pushed back against her discomfort. But she reached a breaking point last month, when she learned that Platner sent sexually explicit text messages to other women after he married in 2023. Hamblin said she ranked Platner last in the Democratic primary, which uses a ranked choice system.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe man is a creep,\u201d Hamblin said. \u201cI won\u2019t say I was surprised\u201d by the sexual assault allegation, she added, \u201cbut I was horrified.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hopes that Jackson \u2014 a \u201cvery non-snazzy person\u201d with pro-labor credentials \u2014 is the replacement nominee, she said.<\/p>\n

The sooner Platner drops out, Hamblin said, the better. She\u2019s terrified to think that the chance to flip Maine\u2019s Senate seat might be slipping away.<\/p>

Read more George Hutchinson, the Supreme Court\u2019s last official crier, dies at 102<\/a><\/p>\n

Koseff reported from Washington.<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With the embattled Democratic Senate nominee under pressure to leave the key race, other politicians are maneuvering to replace him on the ballot. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6664,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nIn Maine, voters consider their options as they await Platner\u2019s decision - Moving Insider USA<\/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:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6668\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In Maine, voters consider their options as they await Platner\u2019s decision - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With the embattled Democratic Senate nominee under pressure to leave the key race, other politicians are maneuvering to replace him on the ballot.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6668\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-08T12:07:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2708c996b570cb27e5db3d663bd1fe67-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"In Maine, voters consider their options as they await Platner\u2019s decision\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T12:07:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668\"},\"wordCount\":880,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2f9cb5ed2f0ad4c00490998524381698-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668\",\"name\":\"In Maine, voters consider their options as they await Platner\u2019s decision - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2f9cb5ed2f0ad4c00490998524381698-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-08T12:07:09+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6668#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2f9cb5ed2f0ad4c00490998524381698-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/2f9cb5ed2f0ad4c00490998524381698-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"PORTLAND, MAINE - JUNE 07: Campaign workers erect signs before Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at a town hall at the Elks Lodge 188 on June 7, 2026 in Portland, Maine. 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