Graham Platner’s Senate bid is all but over. With new allegations of sexual assault looking credible, the Maine Democratic Party has lost interest in having him on the ballot.
“This candidacy is done. We’ve seen this film before with other candidates. It always goes like this: The candidate wants an off-ramp, the party plays hardball, and one way or another, he’s out,” said The Argument Director of Political Data Lakshya Jain in a Substack Live conversation with VoteHub’s Zachary Donnini.
While nobody would call the recent revelation “good news,” in some ways, the timing is lucky for Maine Democrats — there’s still a mechanism for replacing Platner on the ballot.
“Let’s just say Democrats are very relieved this came out today instead of in two weeks,” said Zachary. “If he drops by July 13th, he can be removed from the ballot, no questions asked.”
“In a weird, perverted, twisted way, they've stumbled onto a Goldilocks situation,” Lakshya said.
If Platner — who is expected to drop out of the race — had been put in this position a month ago, the Democrats’ realistic alternative would have been Gov. Janet Mills, who was not popular and didn’t even appear particularly interested in running. But, now that the primaries are over, Maine Democrats will be able to consider several candidates who were formerly running for governor.
The likely candidates for Platner’s replacement are:
Troy Jackson, former state legislator and president of the Maine Senate
Dr. Nirav Shah, former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and the Illinois Department of Public Health
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows
U.S. Rep. Jared Golden
Watch the video above to learn more about the pros and cons for each potential replacement. Or check out the article below to read Jerusalem Demsas’ compelling case for why bad judgement matters — and why that trait of Platner’s should have been evident.
What Graham Platner's defenders refused to see
I think this entire story has to do with bad judgment: Platner’s, yes, but also that of his defenders and anyone else who equivocated their way to this moment.
