Published Jul 7, 2026, 11:40 AM EDT
One organization told Military.com that other candidates can step in, still defeat incumbent Sen. Susan Collins in Maine.
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Published Jul 7, 2026, 11:40 AM EDT
Calls across the political world, from veteran-related organizations and otherwise, are mounting for U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner of Maine to drop out of his race against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins following newly reported sexual assault allegations. Politico reported Monday that a woman named Jenny Racicot, 41, also a Maine resident, shared that Platner was drunk in 2021, entered her home, and proceeded to assault her as part of a non-consensual incident. Racicot was reportedly in an on-and-off relationship with Platner and stopped seeing him after the alleged assault. “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.’” She added that she felt she had to speak out considering the political stakes, in addition to her own conscience, as she acknowledged that she agrees with his political viewpoints—describing a "huge moral" quandary and, ultimately, wanting the truth to be told. Platner was interviewed in May by Military.com about his trajectory from a military veteran and middle-class oyster farmer, riding a wave of populism to garner millions of Democratic primary votes for the opportunity to unseat Collins, the longest-serving Republican U.S. senator who has been a mainstay since 1997. The U.S. Marine Corps veteran and current Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, who despite a plethora of national calls to leave the race has not yet done so, released a statement shortly after Politico's story was published. “These allegations are troubling, serious, and false," Platner said in a video published across social media. "Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue,” he said in a statement.
