Maine Democrats are poised to hold a “nominating convention” to replace scandal-plagued Graham Platner — now the former Democrat nominee for Senate in Maine — in the senatorial race.
Following accusations of raping a woman, Platner formally suspended his campaign. However, he denied the allegations and instead blamed the “political establishment” for his downfall.
“As many of you know, over the past couple days, I have faced some very serious allegations,” he said in the video shared to social media. “I just want to make it clear: this is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It’s not real.”
He claimed that the “corporate media” and “political establishment” acted as judge and jury, leading to his political demise.
That decision came amid infighting between Platner’s campaign and the Maine Democratic Party, as the former accused the latter of leaving Platner voters in the dust. Maine Democrats, however, accused Platner’s team of trying to “put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like” in selecting a new nominee.
The Maine Democratic Party released a statement Wednesday that provided an update on finding a replacement and detailed the meeting with “over 100 state committee members who voted to hold a nominating convention to choose a new nominee” if there is a vacancy, which as of Wednesday evening there is.
“We will announce the full timeline, details for how the nomination process will move forward, information about how to participate, and requirements for candidates soon. We will keep the public informed throughout the process — transparency is of the utmost importance,” the Democratic Party said, making sure to remind Platner supporters that they want them in the fold.
“There is an unprecedented amount of energy and enthusiasm among Maine Democrats, driven in part by many of the dedicated volunteers and supporters who were inspired by Graham Platner’s campaign,” Maine Democrats added. “We look forward to coming together and harnessing that energy around our new nominee as we work to defeat Susan Collins in November.”
It remains unclear which potential candidates they are looking at, but Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) is said to be throwing his support behind Troy Jackson, who is former president of the Maine Senate. However, Jackson is not without controversy, either. He has been accused of striking a female colleague with a bottle.
The leftist group Progressive Victory detailed the allegations, writing, “As Maine Senate President in a state senate caucus meeting several years ago, Troy Jackson in a heated disagreement struck a female colleague with a bottle he threw at her.”
“There are many witnesses, and it appears this is a widespread open secret within Maine politics and not an isolated incident. This information is still developing and we will provide updates in a thread in the comments of this post as we receive it,” it added, noting that it was releasing this information in the interest of not making the “same mistake twice.”
