{"id":2627314,"date":"2026-07-09T13:34:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T17:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/graham-platner-drops-out-of-maine-senate-race\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T13:35:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T17:35:16","slug":"graham-platner-drops-out-of-maine-senate-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/graham-platner-drops-out-of-maine-senate-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Graham Platner Drops Out of Maine Senate Race"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgraham-platner-drops-out-of-maine-senate-race%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2627314&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Graham Platner, a Maine Democrat running for the U.S. Senate, faced widespread controversy after revelations of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/disney-faces-massive-backlash-for-firing-gina-carano-as-cancel-disney-plus-trends-1-critics-bring-up-companys-history\/\" title=\"Disney Faces Massive Backlash For Firing Gina Carano As \u2018Cancel Disney Plus\u2019 Trends #1, Critics Bring Up Company\u2019s History\">offensive social media posts<\/a>, a Nazi tattoo, personal misconduct, adn allegations of sexual assault. Support for his campaign declined sharply following the accusation by Jenny Racicot that he had raped her. Prominent figures like Senator bernie Sanders suggested he step aside amid these serious allegations. The Maine Democratic Party urged Platner to withdraw before the July 13 deadline, but he reportedly attempted to negotiate his departure with conditions. Voters expressed disappointment and distrust toward him, with some feeling the allegations confirmed suspicions about his character. ultimately, Platner ended his campaign as mounting pressure and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/unsolved-the-disappearance-of-baby-sabrina-aisenberg\/\" title=\"Unsolved: The Disappearance Of Baby Sabrina Aisenberg\">public opinion turned<\/a> against him.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Graham Platner\u2019s journey from populist to pariah has ended.<\/p>\n<p>The Maine Democrat, whose U.S. Senate campaign lurched from controversy to controversy without denting his appeal, survived revelations he had a Nazi tattoo on his chest, reams of intemperate and offensive social media posts, cheating on his wife, and allegations of being abusive to former girlfriends.<\/p>\n<p>But when Maine Democrat Jenny Racicot alleged he had raped her, as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/news\/2026\/07\/06\/graham-platner-sexual-assault-allegation-00987737\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Politico<\/a>, support began leaking away until the campaign that was flying high sank like a lead balloon.<\/p>\n<p>Platner officially ended his campaign Wednesday.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">My name might be on the ballot right now, but that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fetterman-smacks-down-platners-campaign-ending-video-and-delusions-of-a-movement-bro-you-will-only-be-remembered-as-the-accused-rapist\/\" title=\"Fetterman Smacks Down ...&#039;s ...-Ending Video and Delusions of a &#039;Movement&#039;: &#039;Bro, You Will Only Be Remembered As the Accused Rapist&#039;\">ballot line belongs<\/a> to the people of Maine. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RKVyLU76tm\">pic.twitter.com\/RKVyLU76tm<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/grahamformaine\/status\/2075009677495058687?\">July 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>  A Tuesday social media post from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, whose praise of Platner helped rocket the previously unknown candidate to progressive stardom, made it clear that the end was coming.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine. In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside,\u201d Sanders <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BernieSanders\/status\/2074532964059197651\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">posted on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine. In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BernieSanders\/status\/2074532964059197651?\">July 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>After Racicot\u2019s comments hit the media Monday, Maine\u2019s Democratic Party said it was time for Platner to end his campaign for the seat held by Republican Susan Collins.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOver the past several weeks, multiple women have made serious, credible allegations against Graham Platner. Today\u2019s statements take those allegations even further,\u201d the party said in a statement on its <a href=\"https:\/\/mainedems.org\/statement-from-maine-democratic-party-leadership-on-allegations-against-graham-platner\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMaine Democratic Party leadership is calling on Graham Platner to withdraw as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate,\u201d the statement said.<\/p>\n<p>Platner faced a time crunch. He had until July 13 to drop out, giving Democrats until July 25 to find a replacement.<\/p>\n<p>But according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/live\/2026\/07\/06\/us\/platner-campaign-accusation?smid=url-#a04074c0-e515-5c96-894c-c1cf42ed84fc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times<\/a>, Platner was trying to bargain with Maine Democrats even as his <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >bargaining power grew weaker<\/a> by the hour.<\/p>\n<p>The Times quoted what it said was \u201ca person familiar with the campaign\u2019s internal discussions\u201d as saying any withdrawal would have strings attached.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf he was to step down it would only be with a guarantee of being replaced by a candidate who he believes is true to the values and vision and policy agenda of the campaign that Maine voted for,\u201d the individual said.<\/p>\n<p>Maine voters said that they might have held their noses and supported Platner before Racicot\u2019s revelation, but they could do so no longer, according to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressherald.com\/2026\/07\/07\/hugely-disappointing-maine-democratic-voters-react-to-platner-rape-allegations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Portland Press-Herald<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt just kind of confirmed what I had always suspected about him, about his treatment of women,\u201d Michael Bacon, 79, of Westbrook said. \u201cThis certainly crosses the red line for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt actually makes me stick to my stomach,\u201d Natalie Krueger, 47, of\u00a0 Sabattus, said. \u201cHe always seemed unstable. He\u2019s not reliable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Joan Blethen, 76, of Belgrade, summed it up: \u201cI was hoping to believe him. But now I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Graham Platner\u2019s rise from populist to outcast has concluded. The Maine Democrat\u2019s Senate bid faced numerous scandals-Nazi tattoo, offensive social media, infidelity, and abuse claims-yet he remained popular until allegations of rape emerged, leading to his withdrawal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2627315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Prewrite-Platner-Resigns.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[71950,37148,65649,65283,32603],"class_list":["post-2627314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-candidate-withdrawal","tag-election-update","tag-graham-platner","tag-maine-senate-race","tag-political-news"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Prewrite-Platner-Resigns.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2627314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2627314"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2627314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2627318,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2627314\/revisions\/2627318"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2627315"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2627314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2627314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2627314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}