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Republicans are gearing up for a major ad blitz attacking whoever replaces Graham Platner in the U.S. Senate race.
That comes as the man from Sullivan faces mounting pressure from Democrats to drop out of the race after a former girlfriend accused him of raping her in 2021.
Axios reported that Pine Tree Results PAC has pulled all of its anti-Platner ads and has $8 million in cash to throw into attack ads targeting whoever emerges as the oyster farmer’s successor in the race against Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.
Politico first reported the allegations against Platner on Monday. That has sent Democrats scrambling to distance themselves from Platner. He has lost endorsements from U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California and U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona, while U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, both big name backers, called for him to exit the race.
Under state law, Platner has until 5 p.m. Monday to inform the Maine secretary of state’s office of his intent to withdraw as the Democratic candidate. That gives his party just two weeks to submit a replacement. The deadline is 5 p.m. on July 27.
Jenny Racicot, 41, met Platner on the dating app Bumble in 2019 and had an on-again, off-again relationship until she severed all contact with Platner after the alleged rape in 2021.
In a later interview with CNN, Racicot said that a drunken Platner showed up uninvited to her home. Racicot said Platner forced himself on her over her objections, telling CNN that he seemed too drunk to even register what she was saying.
Platner allegedly didn’t use protection, despite Racicot’s objection, during the non-consensual intercourse, which Racicot told CNN she complied with out of fear.
“Complying is not consenting,” Racicot told CNN’s Jake Tapper.
While his campaign has weathered many controversies since last fall, this latest allegation could prove fatal.
Platner’s record vote-getting win in June’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary came despite a barrage of negative press since his deleted posts on the website Reddit became public, including inflammatory statements about rural white Americans, Black people and women, and comments dismissive of women’s fears about rape.
Then it came out that Platner had a chest tattoo of a skull over crossbones resembling a symbol adopted by the Nazi SS during World War II.
Platner denied knowing the meaning of the tattoo, which he got in 2007 while deployed abroad with the U.S. Marines. He has since had it covered.
His chances for clinching the nomination seemed at risk just days ahead of the primary when the Wall Street Journal reported that he had exchanged sexually explicit texts with other women early in his marriage to Amy Gertner, who disclosed those messages to his campaign shortly after its launch, and then a New York Times story wherein his ex-girlfriends described volatile and toxic behavior, including instances of physical intimidation.
Racicot was among the women who spoke with The Times about Platner’s “unsettling” and “reckless” behavior, but she didn’t go public with the rape allegation until after the fallout over The Times’ story centered largely on one accuser’s ties to Republican organizations.
Platner’s campaign has “categorically denied” Racicot’s allegation, but the oyster farmer is nonetheless “taking time to reflect” on his campaign. He has postponed a number of upcoming events.
The possibility of Platner bowing out four months before November’s election has set off a race among Democrats, including David Costello who was on June’s primary ballot and former gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson, to find a replacement.
It will be an uphill battle for Democrats to unseat Collins, who officially announced her historic bid for a sixth term in February. While recent polls have given Platner a lead over Maine’s senior senator, the Republican has handily beaten back challengers, including in 2020 when she defied polls and expectations to secure a fifth term in the Senate. But Collins, who has been ranked the country’s most bipartisan senator, has seen her popularity slump since Republican President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.
If Collins is successful in winning a sixth term, she would be Maine’s longest-serving U.S. senator.