2026-07-09T17:38:14.923Z / 美国有线电视新闻网（CNN）
作者：伊桑·科恩、杰夫·泽莱尼
更新于5分钟前
更新时间：2026年7月9日，美国东部时间下午4:04
发布时间：2026年7月9日，美国东部时间下午1:38
在格雷厄姆·普拉特纳本周因性侵犯指控暂停其参议院竞选（他本人否认这些指控）后，缅因州民主党正启动为期两周的快速程序，挑选今年最重要的竞选活动之一的新候选人。
就在普拉特纳周三宣布退出竞选前不久，该州民主党委员会投票决定召开提名大会，以在美国东部时间7月27日下午5点的截止日期前选出接替人选。
但该程序的诸多细节尚未公布，包括大会召开时间、代表人选以及候选人如何获得参选资格。
民主党领导人在一份声明中表示，“透明度至关重要”，他们将“尽快”公布更多细节。
此次大会程序可能与全国政党挑选总统候选人的方式类似：由各州选举产生的代表最终负责提名候选人。但在现代总统选举流程中，代表通常会根据普选结果投票支持某位候选人，考虑到缅因州的紧凑时间表，该州不太可能为选民提供类似的表达偏好的全州性投票机会。
一位熟悉该流程的消息人士告诉CNN，预计此次大会将有大约600名代表，其中约500名来自该州16个县的选举代表，另有约100名州委员会的投票成员。
这些代表的产生方式以及他们最终的身份，将在很大程度上决定这六七十位潜在候选人中谁能成为新的提名候选人。
目前疑问远多于答案。
例如，每个县内谁有权投票选举代表？代表会与特定候选人绑定参选，还是会请选民信任他们在大会上的判断？
此外，大会的投票机制也是一个问题。鉴于潜在候选人众多，很可能没有候选人能获得多数票。民主党会使用该州初选采用的排序选择投票制吗？还是会进行多轮投票，期间各竞选团队可以游说代表转向己方？
另一个尚待解决的突出问题是：普拉特纳在技术上仍处于候选人名单上。他有直到美国东部时间周一下午5点正式退出竞选，他在周三的一次电话中告诉竞选团队工作人员，他计划等到最后一天再提交必要的文件。
助手们表示，该竞选团队周四正处于解散过程中，正在采取措施终止运营。普拉特纳没有解释为何他打算等到周一，但一位接近竞选团队的人士警告称，不应从他的推迟行为中过度解读。
“一切都结束了。他已经退出了，”一位接近竞选团队的人士告诉CNN，“我不太清楚他为什么要等到周一，但竞选团队基本上已经解散了。”
What we know (and don’t know) about how Maine Democrats will replace Graham Platner
2026-07-09T17:38:14.923Z / CNN
By Ethan Cohen, Jeff Zeleny
Updated 5 min ago
Updated Jul 9, 2026, 4:04 PM ET
PUBLISHED Jul 9, 2026, 1:38 PM ET
The Portland Head Light lighthouse is seen in 6 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine’s Fort Williams Park on May 20.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Maine Democrats are embarking on a two-week sprint to pick a new nominee for one of the year’s most important races in the wake of Graham Platner’s decision this week to suspend his Senate campaign after allegations of sexual assault, which he denies.
Shortly before Platner announced on Wednesday he’d be leaving the race, the party’s state committee voted to hold a nominating convention to choose a replacement before the 5 p.m. ET deadline on July 27.
But many details about the process – including when the convention will be held, who the delegates will be and how exactly candidates can access the ballot – have not been announced.
In a statement, party leaders said that “transparency is of the utmost importance,” and they would announce additional details “soon.”
The convention process could be similar to how national parties pick presidential candidates, when delegates elected from each state are ultimately responsible for choosing their nominees. But while in the modern presidential process delegates generally vote for a candidate based on the results of a popular vote, given the compressed timeline in Maine, it seems unlikely there will be a similar statewide opportunity for voters to express their preference.
The convention is expected to feature roughly 600 delegates, including around 500 elected from the state’s 16 counties and about 100 voting members of the state committee, a source familiar with the process told CNN.
The process for how those delegates are selected, and who those people ultimately are, will go a long way to determining which of the more than half a dozen hopefuls emerges as the new nominee.
And there are far more questions than answers.
For example, who will get to vote for delegates within each county? Will delegates run affiliated with specific candidates, or will they ask voters to trust their judgment at the convention?
Then, there’s the question of how voting at the convention will work. With so many potential candidates, it’s easy to imagine no candidate having a majority. Will the party use ranked-choice voting, as the state does in primaries? Or will there be multiple rounds of voting, during which campaigns can try to lobby delegates to their side?
Another outstanding issue that still needs to be resolved: Platner is still technically on the ballot. He has until 5 p.m. ET on Monday to officially withdraw, and he told his campaign staff in a call Wednesday that he plans to wait until the last day to file the necessary paperwork.
The campaign was in the process of shuttering on Thursday, aides said, taking steps to close down the operation. Platner did not explain why he intended to wait until Monday, but a person close to the campaign warned against reading anything into his delay.
“It’s over. He’s done,” a person close to the campaign told CNN. “I don’t really know why he’s waiting until Monday, but the campaign is basically disbanded.”
发表回复