2026-07-06T21:27:41.420Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/06/politics/graham-platner-allegations-maine-senate-race
周一晚间，格雷厄姆·普拉特纳的竞选活动失去民主党全部支持，要求他退出缅因州参议院竞选的呼声持续升级，而普拉特纳表示，在一名女性指控他强奸后，他正“花时间反思最佳前进方向”——他否认了该项指控。
参议院民主党领袖查克·舒默以及民主党参议院竞选委员会负责人誓言，除非普拉特纳退出并由其他民主党候选人顶替，否则该党不会投入资金帮助击败连任五届的共和党现任议员苏珊·柯林斯参议员。
“今日报道的指控令人极度不安——暴力、虐待和性侵犯绝对不可接受，”舒默与民主党参议院竞选委员会主席柯尔斯滕·吉利布兰德在一份声明中表示。“格雷厄姆·普拉特纳需要立即退出民主党参议院候选人提名，让缅因州民主党有机会选出能够击败苏珊·柯林斯的新候选人。若普拉特纳仍留在选票上，民主党参议院竞选委员会不会在缅因州参议院竞选中投入资金。”
一名女性告诉CNN和《政治报》，近五年前她与当时处于随意约会关系的普拉特纳曾在一起时，普拉特纳在酩酊大醉的状态下强奸了她。舒默和吉利布兰德的表态加入了越来越多民主党人要求普拉特纳终止竞选的行列。
此前曾背书这位缅因州民主党人的伊丽莎白·沃伦参议员在一份声明中表示：“当前局势事关重大，格雷厄姆·普拉特纳的最佳前进路径是辞去民主党提名候选人身份，在这场参议院竞选之外处理这些严重指控。”
缅因州民主党表示他应当退出竞选。他在国会的其他多位重要支持者也撤回了背书。此前支持他的影响力人士和激进组织均表示，他已无路可走。
对普拉特纳的施压正值7月13日大选候选人退出选票截止日期前一周。如果他退出，州民主党将有两周时间推出替代候选人。
就柯林斯而言，她谴责了针对其参议院对手的指控，但拒绝就民主党内部的动态表态。“这些指控令人震惊。尽管如此，选择民主党参议院候选人并非我的职责，”柯林斯在其竞选发言人分享的一份声明中说道。
普拉特纳在社交媒体上发布的一段两分钟直面镜头的视频中，未说明他是否会继续参选。他称该项指控“令人不安、严重且虚假”。
“任何关于非自愿行为的指控都是完全虚假的，”他说道。
但他也承认，这些指控可能会让他更难击败柯林斯。拿下缅因州参议院席位，对于民主党能否在11月实现所需的净增四个席位、从而获得参议院多数党控制权至关重要。
“无论报道多么不准确，但考虑到其将带来的政治现实，我们正花时间反思，为我所热爱的州、我所热爱的人民、我所归属的运动以及击败苏珊·柯林斯的目标，找到最佳前进方向，”普拉特纳在视频中说道。
据一位知情人士透露，就在他的视频发布到X平台的同一时间，竞选团队召开了一次简短的工作人员电话会议，一名高级竞选官员宣读了与视频内容一致的普拉特纳声明，且未回答任何问题。
普拉特纳近期似乎取消或推迟了部分活动。周一在戈勒姆和圣福的活动链接已不再可用。
过去一周，民主党全国委员会一直在投放三条社交媒体广告，将普拉特纳与该党其他关键选区的参议院候选人一同展示。周一指控曝光后不久，这三条广告均已下架。
专注助力民主党参议院候选人的主要超级政治行动委员会参议院多数党PAC紧随民主党参议院竞选委员会的步伐，表示除非普拉特纳退出竞选，否则将把资金从缅因州转移出去。
“我们仍然认为，如果普拉特纳不在选票上，这个席位是可以拿下的，但当有广阔的战场地图可供这些资源助力实现民主党多数席位目标时，我们无法继续战略性地在此投入资金，”参议院多数党PAC发言人劳伦·弗莱奇在一份声明中说道。
如果普拉特纳确实决定终止竞选，各方注意力将迅速转向民主党将选择谁来接替他。
两届州长珍妮特·米尔斯曾参加民主党初选，但由于大幅落后于牡蛎养殖户、政坛新人普拉特纳，于4月退出竞选。周一，党内战略家和缅因州民主党人提及的其他可能人选包括今年初选中落败的两位州长候选人：缅因州疾病控制与预防中心前主任尼拉夫·沙阿，以及曾在州长竞选中获得佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯背书、并与普拉特纳一同竞选的伐木工、前州参议员特洛伊·杰克逊。
战略家们周一提及的其他名字还包括：去年启动参议院竞选后不久便退出并背书米尔斯的啤酒厂老板丹·克莱班，拥有众多进步派支持者的州务卿申娜·贝洛斯，以及今年输掉国会初选的州参议员乔·巴尔达奇。
早在6月初就有报道称普拉特纳存在针对女性的令人不安的行为，当时他拒绝退出竞选。不过，在普拉特纳赢得初选后，一些团体仍在对其他民主党人与柯林斯进行民调对比。
“如果你说你关心击败苏珊·柯林斯，你就必须尊重‘那个人不该是你’的道理，”一位了解该选区情况的民主党战略家在谈及普拉特纳时说道。
周一，他的支持率彻底崩盘，包括民选官员、进步派盟友以及缅因州的党内领导人都不再支持他。
两位知名民主党人——亚利桑那州参议员鲁本·加列戈和加利福尼亚州众议员罗·卡纳——宣布撤回他们的背书。
“针对格雷厄姆·普拉特纳的指控令人不安且性质极其严重。我撤回我的背书，”加列戈在X平台上说道。
“我一直明确表示，针对女性的性侵犯或暴力行为是不可逾越的红线。这些指控非常严重且可信。格雷厄姆·普拉特纳应当退出竞选。我撤回我的背书，”卡纳在X平台上说道。
缅因州民主党领导层也发表声明，呼吁普拉特纳下台，称其“与女性和幸存者站在一起，这一原则不会因党派隶属关系而改变”。
广受欢迎的进步派Twitch主播哈桑·皮克尔周一表示，他相信这项指控。
“这些指控——其可信度已经达到了最高级别，”他说道。
“终结公民联合”组织主席蒂芙尼·穆勒撤回了该组织对普拉特纳的背书，并呼吁他退出竞选。穆勒在一份声明中称这些指控“令人深感不安且丧失资格”。
“缅因州人民理应得到一位对公共服务和诚信的承诺无可置疑、其竞选能够聚焦于他们最关心的议题的候选人，”穆勒说道。
本报道及标题已更新补充更多细节。
CNN记者约翰·金、阿里特·约翰、戴维·赖特和伊桑·科恩对本文亦有贡献。
Pressure mounts on Platner to end Maine Senate bid as Democrat says he’s reflecting on ‘best path forward’
2026-07-06T21:27:41.420Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/06/politics/graham-platner-allegations-maine-senate-race
Democratic support for Graham Platner’s campaign collapsed Monday evening, with calls for him to exit the Maine Senate race mounting by the minute and Platner saying he was “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” after a woman accused him of rape — an allegation he denies.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer and the head of the party’s Senate campaign arm vowed not to spend money trying to beat the five-term Republican incumbent, Sen. Susan Collins, unless Platner withdraws and is replaced by another Democratic nominee.
“The allegations reported today are incredibly disturbing – violence, abuse and sexual assault are absolutely unacceptable,” Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement. “Graham Platner needs to immediately withdraw as the Democratic nominee for Senate and allow Maine Democrats the opportunity to choose a new candidate who can defeat Susan Collins. The DSCC will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.”
They joined a growing chorus of Democrats calling on Platner to end his campaign after a woman told CNN and Politico he raped her while he was heavily intoxicated nearly five years ago when they were in a casual dating relationship.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who previously endorsed the Maine Democrat, said in a statement, “With so much at stake, the best path forward is for Graham Platner to step aside as the Democratic nominee and address these serious allegations outside this Senate race.”
The Maine Democratic Party said he should drop out. Many of his other prominent supporters in Congress withdrew their endorsements. Influencers and activist groups that had supported him said he had no way forward.
The pressure on Platner comes one week ahead of the July 13 deadline for general election candidates to withdraw from the ballot. If he did so, the state Democratic Party would then have two weeks to put forward a replacement candidate.
For her part, Collins denounced the allegations against her Senate rival but refused to weigh in on the internal Democratic Party dynamics at play. “These allegations are appalling. Nevertheless, it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate,” Collins said in a statement shared by a campaign spokesperson.
Platner, in a two-minute, direct-to-camera video posted on social media, did not say whether he would stay in the race. He called the allegations “troubling, serious and false.”
“Any accusation of nonconsensual behavior is categorically false,” he said.
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But he also acknowledged that the allegations could make it more difficult for him to defeat Collins. Flipping the Maine seat is critical to Democrats’ chances of winning the net four-seat gain they need in November to take majority control of the Senate.
“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but 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,” Platner said in the video.
Around the same time his video was posted on X, there was a brief campaign staff call where a senior campaign official read a statement from Platner, along the same lines as the video, and no questions were taken, according to a source familiar with the call.
Platner appeared to cancel or postpone some events in recent days. Event links for appearances in Gorham and Sanford on Monday were no longer active.
The Democratic National Committee had been running three social media ads over the past week featuring Platner along with the party’s other Senate nominees in key races. All three of those ads were inactive shortly after Monday’s allegations emerged.
Senate Majority PAC, the main super PAC focused on boosting Democratic Senate candidates, followed the DSCC’s lead, saying it would redirect its money away from Maine unless Platner withdraws from the race.
“We continue to believe this seat is winnable if Platner is not on the ballot, but we cannot strategically continue to invest here when there is an expansive battleground map where these resources can help win a Democratic majority,” Senate Majority PAC spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement.
If Platner does decide to end his campaign, attention would quickly turn to who Democrats would choose to replace him.
Two-term Gov. Janet Mills ran in the Democratic primary, but dropped out of the race in April after lagging well behind Platner, the oyster farmer and political newcomer. Other names mentioned by party strategists and Maine Democrats as possibilities on Monday included two losing gubernatorial candidates on this year’s primary ballot: Nirav Shah, former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention; and former state Sen. Troy Jackson, a logger who was endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in the governor’s race and campaigned alongside Platner.
Other names being floated by strategists Monday included Dan Kleban, a brewery owner who ended his Senate campaign shortly after launching it last year to endorse Mills, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who has a long list of progressive supporters, and state Sen. Joe Baldacci, who lost a congressional primary this year.
Platner refused to drop out of the race following early-June reports detailing allegations of unsettling behavior toward women. However, some groups continued polling other Democrats against Collins even after Platner won the primary.
“If you say you care about beating Susan Collins, you got to respect the idea that it’s not you,” one Democratic strategist familiar with the race said of Platner.
On Monday, his support had collapsed, including from elected officials, progressive allies and party leaders in Maine.
Two high-profile Democrats, Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego and California Rep. Ro Khanna, said they were withdrawing their endorsements.
“The allegations against Graham Platner are troubling and deeply serious. I am rescinding my endorsement,” Gallego said on X.
“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line. These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement,” Khanna said on X.
The leadership of the Maine Democratic Party also released a statement calling on Platner to step aside, saying it “stands with women and survivors, and that principle does not bend based on party affiliation.”
Popular progressive Twitch streamer Hasan Piker said Monday he believes the allegation.
“The accusations — they are as credible as it is going to get,” he said.
End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller rescinded the organization’s endorsement of Platner and called on him to drop out of the race. Muller, in a statement, called the allegations “profoundly disturbing and disqualifying.”
“The people of Maine deserve a candidate whose commitment to public service and integrity is beyond question and whose campaign can focus on the issues that matter most to them,” Muller said.
This story and headline have been updated with additional details.
CNN’s John King, Arit John, David Wright and Ethan Cohen contributed to this report.
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