Assault Bombshell Upends Maine Senate Race

Person reading tablet with headline Scandal Unfolds.

A Maine woman says Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner forced her to have sex in 2021 — and now his own party is abandoning him.

Story Snapshot

Jenny Racicot says Platner entered her apartment without being invited and forced sex despite her repeated objections, backing her account with therapist notes and messages to a confidant.
Three other women who dated Platner described their relationships as “tumultuous” and “toxic,” with accounts of emotional distress and physical intimidation.
Democratic Representatives Ro Khanna and Ruben Gallego pulled their endorsements after the assault allegation went public.
Platner denied all allegations, calling them “troubling, serious and false,” but has not addressed Racicot’s specific evidence point by point.

What Racicot Says Happened

Jenny Racicot gave Politico three on-the-record interviews about the night she says Platner assaulted her. She says he smelled of alcohol when he arrived, entered her apartment without permission, and followed her to the bedroom where he forced sex despite her objections. She says he claimed the next morning he had no memory of the night. Racicot backed her account with emails to her therapist and messages she sent to an acquaintance warning about Platner.

Racicot told reporters she did not come forward sooner partly because she agreed with Platner politically and did not want to be known as a rape victim. That delay does not make her account less credible on its own — research shows delayed reporting is common, and false sexual assault allegations occur in only about 2% to 10% of reported cases. Still, no police report was filed, and no independent witness saw the alleged assault directly.

A Pattern of Troubling Behavior

The assault allegation did not arrive in a vacuum. The New York Times spoke with three other women who dated Platner over a two-month period. All three described their relationships as “tumultuous” or “toxic.” They recalled emotional distress and moments where Platner was physically intimidating. One account included claims of arm twisting and being pushed toward a bedroom. Those women did not accuse Platner of criminal assault, but the pattern added weight to Racicot’s account in the eyes of many Democrats.

Platner also faced scrutiny over deleted posts on the social media site Reddit in which he suggested sexual assault victims should “take some responsibility for themselves.” He did not directly address those posts in his public denials. CNN also reported that Platner had sent sexual text messages to women who were not his wife, adding another layer of controversy to his already troubled campaign.

Democrats Bail, Platner Denies

Platner called the assault allegation “categorically false” and said he never engaged in non-consensual behavior. He acknowledged past struggles with alcohol misuse and undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder but denied the most serious claims. He privately told Senate Democrats that no further allegations would emerge and that “the worst of the rumors we’ve all heard are not true.” Those assurances did not hold.

…………. A highly damaging sexual assault and rape allegation has thrown the Maine U.S. Senate race into chaos.

The primary target of the accusation is Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee running to unseat five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins.

* Who made the…

— JV (@joveg8) July 7, 2026

Representatives Ro Khanna and Ruben Gallego withdrew their endorsements after the Racicot story broke. Progressive influencer Cheyenne Hunt stated flatly that Platner is “not fit to hold a United States Senate seat or any elected office for that matter.” High-profile Democrats including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren stayed publicly silent rather than defend him. Platner said he was weighing the “best path forward” for his campaign — a phrase that signaled to many observers he was considering dropping out of the race against Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins.