Platner Team Accuses Democrat Establishment Of Backroom Power Play

Under intense pressure to drop out, the Graham Platner campaign is digging in, accusing the Democratic establishment of working behind the scenes to install a replacement nominee.

In a mass text message to supporters, Ben Chin, campaign manager for Graham Platner, accused the Democratic Party of working against the will of Maine voters.

Chin insisted that the campaign has never been about Platner, rather “a movement of working class people” united to defeat incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins.

“If the Maine Democratic Party hopes to harness our movement and avoid disillusioning the hundreds of thousands of supporters who came into the fray because of our movement’s policies, it must consult the feedback and proposals of the people who built and sustained this,” Chin said in the text message.

NEW: Ben Chin, campaign manager for Graham Platner in #MESEN, blasted out a mass text

Chin slams the Maine Dem Party for allowing the DSCC to send staffers to plan “a nominating process behind closed doors”

It also includes a Survey Monkey link for feedback? pic.twitter.com/uFY0MgtSQ4

— Ally Mutnick (@allymutnick) July 8, 2026

The Maine Democratic Party shot back Wednesday afternoon, writing, “While the Platner campaign remains focused on distracting from the job of defeating Susan Collins in November with false accusations against us, the Maine Democratic Party remains hyper focused on developing a representative, transparent, and inclusive process to select a new nominee when he chooses to withdraw from the race.”

“While we may be frustrated with Graham Platner’s continued efforts to manipulate this process, we are so thankful for his supporters and all of their efforts to defeat Susan Collins — they are a vital part of our Party and deserve to participate in an open process to select Platner’s replacement,” Maine Democrats added.

The blowup follows an extraordinary Tuesday night statement from the Maine Democratic Party, which accused the leftist campaign of trying to “put their thumb on the scale.”

“Unfortunately, Graham Platner’s team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like,” Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said. “We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like.”

On Wednesday, Chin fired back.

“Under their watch and direction, they allowed the DC-based Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to send staffers to plan a potential nominating process behind closed doors. Both the state and national parties cut our team, our volunteers, and our vast networks of supporters out of the conversation completely,” Chin said.

“We firmly believe that the supporters and volunteers who built this movement deserve to have a real role in any nomination process,” he added.

It remains unclear who could replace Platner. Many party officials, however, have pointed to former Maine State Senate President Troy Jackson, a Platner ally, as a leading contender. Other potential nominees include Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former state public health chief Nirav Shah, former city mayor Valli Geiger, and Jordan Wood, the former chief of staff to former Rep. Katie Porter.

Platner’s campaign unraveled over the 4th of July weekend following explosive allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Politico interviewed 41-year-old Maine resident Jenny Racicot, who accused Platner of entering her home without permission in 2021 and sexually assaulting her. In a one-two punch, CNN released an interview with Racicot, who described the alleged assault as rape. The Senate hopeful has repeatedly called allegations of nonconsensual sex “categorically false.”

On Tuesday, another ex-girlfriend accused Platner of repeatedly removing condoms without her consent during sex, according to a report by The Washington Post, which he denied.

Platner’s exit would mark a stunning fall from grace for the Bernie Sanders-backed oyster farmer, who leaned on a working-class, populist message to catapult himself onto the national political stage and buck his party’s unpopular establishment wing.

Maine Democrats have until July 13 to replace him on the ballot, leaving the party just days to settle on a new nominee to take on Collins in a race that could determine control of the U.S. Senate.