{"id":368,"date":"2026-07-07T20:40:40","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=368"},"modified":"2026-07-07T20:40:40","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:40:40","slug":"who-could-replace-graham-platner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=368","title":{"rendered":"Who Could Replace Graham Platner?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Democrats\u2019 brief experiment in letting their hair down and nominating a Senate candidate who makes them feel edgy has all but concluded.<\/p>\n

Read more Graham Platner\u2019s Long List of Bad Choices<\/a><\/p>\n

After a well-corroborated Politico story in which an ex claimed Platner sexually assaulted her, the party has seen enough. Democrats ranging from Chuck Schumer to Zohran Mamdani have called on Platner to drop out. Prominent early endorsers like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have withdrawn their support and encouraged him to step aside. The national Democratic Party said it won\u2019t invest in the race so long as he\u2019s the nominee, and the Maine Democratic Party wants him out, too. The bottom has fallen out.<\/p>\n

While Platner\u2014whose lead in the race had evaporated after a previous wave of stories about his relationship history\u2014has not yet relented, he has suggested that he\u2019s reassessing his campaign. The Platner campaign told Politico on Monday that he \u201cvigorously denies\u201d the new allegation. But in a video statement, Platner said the campaign would be \u201ctaking the time to reflect on the best path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Slate Video Content<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

If he drops out, where do things go from here? Who will run against Sen. Susan Collins this November?<\/p>\n

Maine law would allow Democrats to field a new candidate by July 27 if Platner drops out by next Monday. The mechanics of that replacement process, though, are vague. The law merely allows that \u201ca political committee may make a replacement nomination\u201d without specifying a process it must follow. In other words, any process\u2014or lack thereof\u2014about who takes the Democratic ballot line would be up to the Maine Democratic Party.<\/p>\n

No one, including the Maine Democratic Party, knows what kind of selection process they might settle on if Platner drops out. But everyone remembers that the last time a dead-candidate-walking dropped out after winning the primary, endorsed a successor, and saw that successor get immediately ratified without further input from voters, Donald Trump was elected president. In other words, with the 2024 presidential race still stinging, the party may be inclined to pursue something <\/em>conceptuallyakin to the lightning fast \u201cmini primary\u201d that 2024 Democrats never held after President Joe Biden dropped out.<\/p>\n

One idea in that vein was put forward by Nirav Shah, an epidemiologist and former CDC official who was runner-up in Maine\u2019s recent Democratic gubernatorial primary. \u201cAnyone running for this nomination should agree to at least one televised debate and hold multiple public town halls across every corner of the state,\u201d Shah posted Tuesday. \u201cI am committed to doing that, if I run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shah had a campaign operation running at full speed just a few weeks ago, so he wouldn\u2019t be starting from scratch. That goes for the many other Democrats who ran in the governor\u2019s race too. This would bring a cycle of Maine Democratic politics full circle: A lot of potential Senate candidates chose the governor\u2019s race instead, either because Collins\u2019 2020 victory had them shook or because they knew Chuck Schumer would try to clear the field by recruiting Janet Mills (he did try this, but Platner beat her out). Now Shah\u2014as well as former state Senate President Troy Jackson or Secretary of State Shenna Bellows\u2014could flock back to the potential Senate availability having lost the governor\u2019s race.<\/p>\n

Read more The Supreme Court\u2019s Latest Gift to Trump Comes Wrapped in a Lie<\/a><\/p>\n

Or <\/em>they could, once again, be cleared from the field if Mills opts for the nomination. There are a couple of ways this would go over. Might <\/em>it look a little too much like Washington Democrats pulling the strings if they get their preferred candidate in the end, even though she had suspended her Senate primary campaign after performing so poorly? Sure. But she also did <\/em>come in second in the primary, anyway. And allowing the runner-up to pick up the baton after the winner withdrew would be a simple criterion for the party to move forward. But Mills had to be dragged into running the first time, and that reticence showed in her campaigning ability. She may not want\u2014and Democratic voters may not want her\u2014to be dragged in again.<\/p>\n

There are also a couple of other interesting names to keep an eye on\u2014and they\u2019re people who have not <\/em>lost an election since Memorial Day.<\/p>\n

Dan Kleban, the founder of the Maine Brewing Company, had originally run for Senate but dropped out and endorsed Mills when she entered the race last year. He appears interested in it.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Rep. Jared Golden, the Democratic representative of Maine\u2019s 2nd<\/sup> District, a centrist, Blue Dog Democrat who\u2019s ground out victories in several brutal campaigns. He\u2019s retiring from his House seat this cycle because he has a young family, and genuinely despises political life in Washington. Convincing him to run for Senate, then\u2014especially given that he\u2019s worked for Susan Collins and maintained a good relationship with her\u2014would be a tall order, though no doubt many are trying. Golden would be a formidable opponent to Collins. Whether he could earn that nomination against what would be an ocean of criticism from Maine progressives, though, is another story.<\/p>\n

The only clue we have of what Platner is thinking is a quote that an anonymous source gave the New York Times on Monday: that \u201cif he was to step down it would only be with a guarantee of being replaced by a candidate who he believes is true to the values and vision and policy agenda of the campaign that Maine voted for.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the one hand, we get what he\u2019s saying: He won the nomination, so a candidate in his vein should take up the mantle. On the other hand: Get outta here, man. Platner being able choose his successor would stain that successor with Platner\u2019s problems for the rest of the campaign! Ask Kamala Harris how this sort of thing goes. It also wouldn\u2019t jibe with my understanding, at least, of a democratic replacement process. Besides, some Platner voters may have had a change of heart since the primary, and would like their sudden prioritization of boringness <\/em>to be reflected in their next candidate.<\/p>\n

Read more Pete Buttigieg Didn\u2019t Have to Let Those CPS Officers In<\/a><\/p>\n

If there is a next candidate. We\u2019ll see.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Democrats can salvage the Maine Senate race.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":367,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[63,50,107,45],"class_list":["post-368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-2026-midterms","tag-democrats","tag-maine","tag-senate"],"yoast_head":"\nWho Could Replace Graham Platner? - Home Move Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=368\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Who Could Replace Graham Platner? - Home Move Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"How Democrats can salvage the Maine Senate race.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=368\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Home Move Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T20:40:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=368#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=368\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/75d86f25dbb870f24983ccc831d1ec4e\"},\"headline\":\"Who Could Replace Graham Platner?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T20:40:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=368\"},\"wordCount\":1073,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=368#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/e10c0b4b964849065619992ff2c1e4af.avif\",\"keywords\":[\"2026 Midterms\",\"Democrats\",\"Maine\",\"Senate\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=368#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=368\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/homemovechronicle.com\\\/?p=368\",\"name\":\"Who Could Replace Graham Platner? 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