Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner is apparently treating his withdrawal from the race like a hostage negotiation, and the hostage is the entire Democratic Party's chances of flipping a Senate seat.
As Trending Politics reported, the 41-year-old oyster farmer is refusing to step aside unless he gets a say in who replaces him on the ballot. Sources told The New York Post that Platner, his campaign, and political strategist Morris Katz have been discussing a possible withdrawal, but only if his replacement shares his progressive political views. Because nothing says "I care about the movement" like treating your party's nominee selection like a Craigslist transaction where you get to approve the buyer.
Democrats face a July 13 deadline for Platner to withdraw. If he leaves before then, the Maine Democratic Party has pledged to run an "open" and "transparent" process to pick a new nominee. One source speculated the whole thing "vibes to me like a play from Bernie Sanders to slide in Troy Jackson," the former Maine Senate President and ex-logger who appeared with Platner and Sanders at a "Fight the Oligarchy" rally back in May.
Another source was considerably less diplomatic about Platner's leverage, saying he apparently "assumes whoever might replace him would want a rapist's endorsement." Platner has firmly denied allegations of sexual assault made Monday by former girlfriend Jenny Racicot.
"His team is delusional," the source added, noting that Katz had urged Platner to stay in the race. Katz, who is 27 and works for a Democratic consulting firm called Fight Agency, apparently has big ambitions. "He wants to be the next David Axelrod ... and Mamdani is his Obama," a third source said, referring to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. "But obviously Mamdani can't be the president, so he's trying to find this white, working-class caricature to take up that mantle." That is quite a career plan for a guy whose current client is refusing to leave a race nobody wants him in.
The Maine Democratic Party called on Platner to withdraw Monday after saying "multiple women have made serious, credible allegations." They followed up Tuesday with a video accusing his team of trying to "put their thumb on the scale" of the replacement process. Mamdani himself publicly called on Platner to drop out.
Bernie Sanders, Platner's highest profile supporter, is reportedly backing Troy Jackson as the replacement to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Jackson finished third in Maine's Democratic gubernatorial primary, so at least he has experience losing, which is useful preparation for whatever this situation turns into.
Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville offered some perspective that was equal parts honest and brutal. "How can they? They don't have any control," he told The Post about national party leaders trying to force Platner out. "The idea that there's some controlling entity in the Democratic Party, there's a council of elders, it's just absurd."
Carville added that "if there's any fault with the lack of vetting, it would be with Platner's own campaign." So to recap: the Democrats found one of their best Senate pickup opportunities, nominated an oyster farmer who is now accused of sexual assault, and are watching him hold the entire process hostage from what I can only assume is a dock somewhere in Maine. Somewhere, Susan Collins is having the most relaxing week of her political career.
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