Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Maine, officially withdrew his candidacy on Friday afternoon, ending a campaign laden with scandals.
Maine’s secretary of state confirmed Platner had filed the paperwork to remove his name from the November ballot, two days after Platner publicly said he planned to exit the race.
In a letter shared on social media outlining the populist ideals that underlined his meteoric rise to the national political stage and drew widespread support in the state, Platner called for the movement built under his name to continue. He expressed gratitude to those who supported him, and called for “a new kind of politics”.
“People are desperate for change. For this broken system to be righted. For the American experiment to be furthered,” he wrote, noting the more than 156,000 votes he received in the 9 June primary. “My name may have been on the ballot, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine.”
Platner’s letter did not include a mention of the sexual assault allegations made against him this week, which led to his decision to suspend his candidacy. In an 11-minute video posted on Wednesday, he denied the allegations and said the Democratic establishment was “using these allegations to take away all of the things we need to run a campaign”.
“This is all false,” Platner said of the allegations. “The things that have been claimed did not happen. It’s not real.”
But the accusations followed several other scandals that dogged the oyster farmer and marines veteran, even as his support grew. Platner also grappled with the resurfacing of old social media posts that included racist, sexist and homophobic language, which he attributed to struggles with PTSD. He was also questioned about a since-removed tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi emblem.
Democrats have days left to select a new nominee to take on five-term Republican incumbent senator Susan Collins, as several contenders have already begun jockeying for the spot. Maine is considered a must-win state in the Democratic party’s mission of taking control of the Senate.
Several contenders have already begun jockeying for the nomination, including Troy Jackson, a former Maine state senator; Shenna Bellows, the Maine secretary of state; and Nirav Shah, the former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
The party is reportedly rushing to put together a nominating convention before the 27 July deadline to finalize November’s ballots.
“Graham Platner dropping out today was the right thing to do,” the state party’s executive director, Devon Murphy-Anderson, told NBC News. “The allegations that were brought against him were very real and they were very credible.”
