Graham Platner suspends Maine Senate campaign over rape allegation
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The political adviser to Graham Platner’s now-defunct Senate campaign faces scrutiny after the team said she urged him to end his candidacy as soon as they learned of a rape allegation; despite this, the campaign publicly denied the allegation before suspending the Platner candidacy two days later.
“As soon as our team learned of the rape allegations against Graham Platner, we advised him to suspend his candidacy and worked to end the campaign in the following days.” Platner’s political advisor Morris Katz X wrote on Wednesday.
The allegation, first reported by Politico on Monday, came from Maine resident Jenny Racicot, who said Platner raped her in 2021. Platner denied the claim and said it was false and politically motivated.
EXPLOSIVE SEXUAL ATTACK ALLEGATION LOSTS PLATNER CAMPAIGN AHEAD OF IMPORTANT DEADLINE IN CRITICAL SENATE RACE
Graham Platner speaks at the Primary Election event on June 9, 2026 in Blue Hill, Maine. (CJ Gunther/Getty Images)
Katz, one of Platner’s top political advisers, faced scrutiny for the post on Thursday, including receiving an X community rating for its timeline.
“When asked by CNN about Jenny Racicot’s rape allegation on July 6, Platner’s campaign denied it was true, instead recommending a suspension, which occurred two days later,” the community note said.
CNN’s Jake Tapper weighed in on Katz’s message to
Platner responded within minutes to the Politico article, published at 3:18 p.m. on Monday, posting a video on X at 3:29 p.m. He said his campaign was “taking time to consider the best path forward.”
His campaign article also commented that Platner “strongly denies” the “very serious” allegations, while critics suggest he is trying to drop him from the race.
“They are also trained and coordinated by non-government agency officials,” the campaign told Politico on Monday. Opponents of the campaign did everything they could to Graham for a year; They called him a Nazi, a war criminal and a communist. None of it was true and this is no different. It’s no coincidence that this story comes a week before the voting deadline, just as previous false claims came a week before the primary. Graham started this campaign to fight for a Maine where everyone is treated. where dignity and Mainers are put first, and no amount of desperate smearing will stop this movement from realizing that vision.”
THE LAST DEMOCRATIC CLAIMING PLATNER CLAIMS THAT THE SENATE CANDIDATE ‘DEFINITELY’ RAPED HER
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks to voters at a town hall at Elks Lodge 188 in Portland, Maine, on June 7, 2026. Platner is the presumptive Democratic nominee and will face incumbent Sen. Collins (R-ME) for the Maine U.S. Senate seat in the general election. (Photo: Laura Brett/Getty Images) (Laura Brett/Getty Images)
As calls grew for him to drop out of the race, Platner’s campaign announced Wednesday that he would speak later that day but did not say what he planned to do before posting an 11-minute recorded video on X.
In the video, Platner said the allegations were “completely false” and accused the political establishment of working against him to force him to withdraw from the race.
“It’s just like the news that came out a week before the primaries. There’s a reason why this is happening now. I only have until July 13 until I’m officially a candidate. This was the last week they tried to get me off the ballot. That’s why it’s happening,” Platner said.
He announced the suspension of his campaign in a video on Wednesday.
“For the movement to continue, this cannot be me. That is why we are suspending campaign activities,” Platner said in a video posted on social media. he said.
Platner officially ended his Senate campaign Friday afternoon.
Critics on social media seized on the timeline, questioning when the campaign learned of the allegation and why Platner did not suspend his campaign until two days later.
“It’s important to note that Morris and his team started calling Platner’s ex-girlfriends LAST YEAR because they knew there were problems,” the Republican commentator wrote. Matt Whitlock is in X.
“The Democratic establishment was fully prepared to make a rapist a United States Senator. They only took him out because he would lose,” he wrote. Republicans account for X.
“11 minutes and zero accountability,” Democrat, pro-choice women’s group wrote PAC Emily’s List.
WHAT HAPPENS IF PLATNER IS RELEASED? HERE IS WHO CAN REPLACE HIM IN VOTES AND HOW IT WORKS
Graham Platner announced Wednesday that he is withdrawing from the Maine Senate race after his ex-girlfriend accused him of rape. He denied the allegation. (Graham Platner via X)
Maine Democrats were running for a July 13 deadline for Platner to officially drop out of the race; It was a move that would allow the party to choose a replacement candidate by July 27 to face incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
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Fox News Digital has reached out to Platner’s team and Katz for comment.
