Maine's Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner is reportedly "taking the time to consider his next steps" after his ex-girlfriend accused him of drunkenly breaking into her home and raping her in 2021. That's a creative way of saying your campaign is on life support and you haven't decided whether to pull the plug. Platner denied the allegation, but stopped well short of saying he's staying in the race.
What Politico Actually Reported
Politico dropped the story Monday. According to their reporting, a woman named Jenny Racicot, Platner's ex-girlfriend, alleges that he forced her to have sex with him roughly five years ago, over her reported objections. The specific detail that he allegedly broke into her home while drunk is the kind of allegation that doesn't just raise eyebrows, it ends political careers. Or at least it should.
Platner issued a statement that called the reporting inaccurate, but the wording was careful enough to make a lawyer nervous. Axios reported that he said, "regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful of the political..." and then the statement trailed into the usual hedging language about weighing the campaign's future. That is not the language of a man who is confident he's staying put.
Ro Khanna Had Seen Enough
Rep. Ro Khanna of California didn't wait around. According to the New York Post, he posted on X Monday calling on Platner to drop out entirely. "I've been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line," Khanna wrote. "These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement."
That is a fairly unambiguous statement, which puts it in rare company in American political discourse. Khanna made the call quickly and cleanly, which is worth acknowledging.
What makes this more pointed is that Khanna had previously stood by Platner after a New York Times report last month described accounts from several of Platner's former partners who alleged patterns of physical and mental abuse. Khanna held the line then. He did not hold it twice.
This Was Already a Mess Before Monday
Let's back up. The New York Times had already reported, before this week, that multiple former partners of Platner described experiencing alleged physical and mental abuse during their relationships with him. That report generated scrutiny. Khanna stayed on board. The party largely held together around its nominee.
Now, with a second and significantly more serious allegation on the record, the calculation has shifted. Platner is the Democratic candidate in a race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine, one of the handful of Senate seats that could determine the chamber's majority. The stakes for the party are real. Which makes the question of what comes next genuinely complicated, even if the moral question seems fairly straightforward.
Where This Leaves the Race
Susan Collins, whatever else you want to say about her, did not need outside help winning in Maine. She has won that state six times. She survived 2020 when everyone thought she was done. She is durable in a way that defies national political gravity.
The Democrats needed a strong, clean candidate to have any real shot. What they got was someone whose personal history is now the entire story. Axios reports Platner is still technically in the race as of Monday evening, weighing his options. But every hour he doesn't drop out is another hour the allegation leads the news cycle instead of whatever Collins has actually done in the Senate. That math does not work in anyone's favor except Collins's.
The Dingo Take
Here's the thing about the "I'm taking time to consider my next steps" statement: it is what politicians say when they know they're done but haven't finished negotiating the exit on their own terms. Platner has now been accused by multiple women of abuse, with one naming a specific incident of rape. That is not a gray area requiring extended personal reflection. The race mattered. The Senate majority matters. But the Democratic Party cannot run a candidate with this particular set of allegations against him and expect anyone to take seriously the party's stated commitments on women's safety. You don't get to have it both ways.
Khanna's move was right, but let's be honest about the timeline. He endorsed Platner after the first round of abuse allegations from the Times report. He only pulled the endorsement when a rape allegation landed. That is not exactly a profile in early moral clarity. It's catching the last train out of a burning station. Better than staying, sure. But the party sat with this candidate and his history for weeks before this became unavoidable.
If Platner actually cares about either the people accusing him or the party he claims to represent, the decision here is not complicated. Step down, let Maine Democrats find someone who doesn't come with a documented history of alleged violence toward women, and stop making Susan Collins's reelection campaign this easy.
