Texas Democrats are distancing themselves from Graham Platner, a progressive running to flip a Maine U.S. Senate seat blue, after Politico released a bombshell report Monday in which a woman accused him of sexual assault.
The Politico piece describes an encounter years ago in which Platner allegedly forced a woman he was dating to have sex against her will while he was blackout drunk. Platner, who denies the accusation, has faced a string of other controversies since joining the race, but this is so far the most serious.
“The credible allegations against Graham Platner cannot be ignored — he should withdraw from the race immediately,” Texas Rep. James Talarico, a Democratic candidate for Texas’ contested U.S. Senate seat, said Monday in an emailed statement.
“I am horrified by the allegations against Graham Platner,” U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, wrote on social media Monday. “He should drop out of the Senate race. Maine Democrats should replace him with an inspiring candidate who can best represent them.”
Casar, whose district included San Antonio before last summer’s redistricting, is the chair of the House Progressive Caucus and is the only Democratic member of Congress from Texas to publicly back Platner in his bid to unseat incumbent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a long-serving Republican.
Bexar County Democratic Party officials also said Platner should leave the race in the wake of the new accusation against him.
“This is not the first allegation, this is a series of issues that beset this candidate. I think it’s time for the Maine Democrats to select someone new,” Michele Lowe Solis, who chairs the Bexar Democrats, told the Current.
“I do believe he should drop out,” she added. “Sexual assault has no place in this party, much less society.”
Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident, told Politico about her alleged sexual assault by Platner.
“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.’”
Platner has denied the allegations.
The New York Times published an exclusive story in June featuring allegations of abusive behavior made by other women raised against Platner, including woman who’s now a Republican operative. Platner and many of his supporters dismissed the allegations as “politically motivated.”
When speaking with the Times, Racicot only hinted at “reckless” and “unsettling” behavior by Platner. She later told Politico she didn’t go public with the specific assault claim at the time because she didn’t want to be known as a rape victim. She also said she agrees with Platner’s politics, further complicating her choice to come forward.
Nonetheless, Racicot told the news organization that voters deserve to have a “full picture” of who Platner is.
