Graham Platner says he is considering the ‘best path forward’ in the Maine Senate race after denying sexual assault allegation

Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner is denying a new allegation of sexual assault, an explosive development injecting tumult into a race that is central to the Democratic Party’s path to winning back the Senate.

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Despite the denial, Platner said in a video that he is taking “time to reflect on the best path forward” with his candidacy.

On Monday, Politico reported that a former girlfriend of Platner, Jenny Racicot, 41, of Maine, is alleging that in 2021, Platner showed up at her home unannounced and drunk. She told the publication that Platner had forced himself on her.

“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot told Politico. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”

CNN also posted an interview with Racicot on Monday.

Platner flatly denied the allegation and his campaign called it orchestrated and part of a broader “smear” effort against him.

“These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue,” Platner said in the statement. He also released a video denying the report , calling Racicot’s account “categorically false.”

In the video statement, Platner seemed to indicate his candidacy was in question, saying that “regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting,” he was “mindful of the political reality it will inflict; we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins.”

The campaign released a similar statement.

“These allegations are very serious and Graham vigorously denies them. They are also coached and coordinated by out of state establishment operatives,” the campaign’s statement read.

NBC News did not independently verify the report, and through a representative, Racicot did not comment.

Politico said it also reviewed messages between Racicot and her therapist and spoke to two people she told about the incident in 2023.

Racicot earlier appeared in a New York Times article that interviewed several women who had dated Platner and recalled “unsettling” behavior. Racicot said she casually dated Platner between 2019 and 2021.

She told the Times that Platner arrived at her house drunk in 2021, even though she had asked him not to come over. She did not elaborate on what else happened in that report.

Racicot told Politico that she was torn about coming forward because she agrees with Platner politically but decided to because she wants people “to have a whole scope of who he is as a person.”

Last week, NBC News reported that social media influencer Cheyenne Hunt , who is also an attorney and launched a women’s advocacy group, was working with multiple women who had contacted her after they had personal relationships with Platner. Platner canceled multiple public events over the weekend. On Monday, Hunt revealed Racicot was one of the women.

“Courageous women came forward at great personal risk to expose the truth, protect other women, and ensure that Maine voters are not forced to choose between a predator and a traitor to women,” Hunt said in a statement. “With the new allegations of rape and sexual violence that were brought to light, it’s absolutely unquestionable: Graham Platner is not fit to hold a United States Senate seat, or any elected office for that matter.”

Platner’s campaign noted that the report came out a week before July 13, which is the deadline under Maine law for a general election candidate to withdraw as a nominee. Platner won the Democratic primary on June 9 with more than 70% support.

Before Politico published its story, a new survey conducted by Tavern Research, a Democratic polling firm, circulated among Democrats and on social media. In addition to testing the Platner-Collins Senate matchup and voters’ feelings about each of the nominees, the poll tested how voters felt about a number of other Maine Democrats, including several who ran for other offices and lost in the June primary.

Other figures tested in the poll included the actor Patrick Dempsey and losing gubernatorial candidates Troy Jackson and Nirav Shah.

If Platner were to drop out of the Senate race, the state Democratic Party committee would then have until July 27 to replace him. But Platner’s campaign said that wouldn’t happen.

“For a year, opponents of this campaign have thrown everything they can at Graham — calling him a Nazi, a war criminal, and a communist. None of it has been true and this is no different. It is not a coincidence that this story comes a week before the ballot deadline, just as the previous false allegations came a week before the primary,” the Platner campaign added in its statement. “Graham began this campaign to fight for a Maine where everyone is treated with dignity and where Mainers are put first, and no amount of desperate smears will stop this movement from seeing that vision through.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network (RAINN), can put you in contact with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at rainn.org/get-help.