A new bombshell sexual assault allegation rocked Maine’s Senate race Monday, turning Graham Platner from Democratic golden boy into a political emergency for a party suddenly desperate for an exit ramp.
The panic moved fast from individual endorsement trouble to the party’s Senate machinery.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., who leads Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, warned in a joint statement that Platner needed to get out “immediately” if Democrats were going to replace him.
Their threat was financial as well as political. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee would withhold money from Maine if Platner stayed in the race against Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
Schumer called the sexual-assault claims “incredibly disturbing.” He and Gillibrand had backed Gov. Janet Mills, D-Maine, in the primary and only endorsed Platner after he won the nomination.
Ro Khanna and numerous other Democrats have dropped their endorsements of Graham Platner just in time.
Just minutes before CNN's Jake Tapper conducted a lengthy exclusive interview with the woman accusing the Senate candidate of r*ping her. https://t.co/oqyxVuIm03 pic.twitter.com/5VVWA7oVE1
— Media Lies (@MediasLies) July 6, 2026
The first major crack had come from Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who had been among Platner’s most recognizable national allies.
Khanna made the break in a Monday evening social media post. “I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” he wrote.
“These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”
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Politico’s report identified the accuser as Jenny Racicot, 41, a Maine woman who previously dated Platner and alleged that a 2021 encounter at her home became nonconsensual.
Platner rejected the allegation, while his campaign left open the possibility that the race itself could soon change.
Hours later, Racicot took the accusation to Jake Tapper’s CNN program and used the phrase “by dictionary definition” to describe what she said happened.
“I thought, here’s a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, r*ped me. And he’s blaming drunk women,” Racicot told the outlet.
Racicot also tied her accusation to Platner’s record of past remarks, casting his comments about women and sexual assault as part of a troubling pattern.
In Racicot’s account, Platner was “blackout drunk” when he entered the home. She said the alleged assault continued despite her telling him to stop, with brief moments when he “came to” and apologized before resuming.
Platner’s team responded quickly to Politico with a denial and a timing argument.
“These allegations are very serious and Graham vigorously denies them,” his campaign told the outlet.
The campaign cast the report as a deadline-week attack, noting that the ballot cutoff would determine whether Democrats could still swap nominees.
Platner also released a two-minute online video denying nonconsensual conduct.
“I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious and false allegations against me. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” Platner said.
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) July 6, 2026
Even as he attacked the “inaccuracy of the reporting,” Platner conceded that the campaign was reassessing its path.
“We are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” he added.
“These allegations are appalling,” the Republican incumbent responded to the latest scandal. “Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate.”
The pressure soon reached his own state party. Maine Democratic leaders framed the demand as part of their responsibility to vet nominees, pointing to “serious, credible allegations” that had accumulated from multiple women.
“Over the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today’s statements take those allegations even further,” the statement said.
The statement urged him out of the U.S. Senate race and said the party’s support for women and survivors was not dependent on political affiliation.
Khanna’s retreat was especially damaging because he had stood beside Platner on the trail in June, just before the Maine candidate secured the nomination.
The June appearance followed another damaging allegation, first reported by The New York Times, from former Platner girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield, who accused him of abuse. Platner has denied that allegation.
Before Monday’s break, Khanna had framed Platner’s record as the story of a combat veteran emerging from a troubled period, not as a disqualifying pattern.
In June, Khanna told Martha MacCallum on Fox News that he had pressed Platner about whether any credible sexual-assault allegation remained undisclosed.
“I made it clear that, for me, is a red line,” Khanna said. “And he said, no, there is not.”
BREAKING: California Democrat Ro Khanna says the allegations against Graham Platner reported by The New York Times are “wrong and toxic,” but says he will still appear alongside him at a rally in Maine tonight.
In a statement, Congressman Khanna wrote, “The people of Maine… pic.twitter.com/QGoMXPDEyl
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 5, 2026
The backlash widened across the Democratic map Fellow fervent supporter Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said “the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside.”
Even Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., who had not been a Platner endorser, called for him to suspend the campaign.
“Character and accountability matter regardless of party,” Kelly wrote. “It’s time for Graham Platner to drop out and allow for someone else to be nominated and give Democrats the best chance to win this seat in November.”
Other Democrats split between withdrawal and direct demands. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker wrote on X that Platner “must drop out,” Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., told NBC News, “These are very serious allegations and they should be treated as such,” and Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., rescinded his endorsement without explicitly calling for Platner to exit.
Platner was already carrying months of political baggage, from a chest tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol to deleted posts about law enforcement and sexual assault, along with abuse allegations from women he previously dated.
He has said he did not understand the tattoo’s Nazi association before covering it, and he has apologized for old posts by tying many of them to a difficult period after military service.
The clock is now the party’s other problem. A Platner withdrawal by Maine’s July 13 deadline would leave Democrats just two weeks to name someone else.
