It’s troubling, folks. It’s not the story itself, but the cumulative impact. Maine’s Graham Platner, the Democrat likely to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the fall, has a new accusation against him: emotional abuse. That was the latest from The New York Times yesterday. Multiple women have come forward claiming that Platner was abusive. There are some anecdotes about him being reportedly rough with one of his ex-girlfriends, though nothing violent like broken bones, skin injuries, or blood. No sexual assaults have been reported, but this is now in the ‘Me Too’ realm.
With the Nazi tattoo and sexting circus surrounding this campaign, some wonder if there’s a plan B, because apparently, all this bad press comes from the Democrats’ opposition research. The GOP reportedly has kept its powder dry, and it’s only June. The Maine Democratic Party could find a replacement if Graham drops out, but it must be done before July 13. A messy, sloppy political lobster roll, served Biden-style. Yet, the one person who could be a strong candidate as a replacement just told Democrats to leave him alone (via Washington Examiner):
Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) shut down any rumors that he’s interested in running for Senate as Democratic front-runner Graham Platner faces yet another controversy.
“I’m not going to be a candidate for the United States Senate in 2026,” Golden told the Washington Examiner. “I can assure you of that.”
A New York Times article published Thursday detailed new allegations against Platner in which multiple women called his actions intimidating, disturbing, and sometimes aggressive. His campaign disputed many of the allegations.
[…]
Golden told the Washington Examiner that no members of Senate party leadership had reached out to him to inquire about his interest, chalking the chatter up to social media.
On Tuesday, Senate Democrats chose to double down on their support of Platner, even asking him if there was anything new, to which Platner basically said there’s nothing to worry about and that any new allegations are not credible.
He’s the Democrats’ guy, an alleged emotionally abusive oyster farmer with Nazi tattoos. Though the latter part is true—Platner definitely has SS ink.