Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he told Maine Democrat Graham Platner to end his Senate bid on Tuesday, in the wake of a POLITICO report that a woman who Platner dated said he forced her to have sex with him.
“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine. In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside,” Sanders said in a statement.
Platner has denied the allegations, saying in a statement this week that “any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.”
It’s Sanders’ first public remarks about Platner since the POLITICO report, and it comes after he’s stood beside Platner in the wake of other scandals. Numerous other elected Democrats and officials called on Platner to step down on Monday night.
Shortly after POLITICO published the report, Platner posted a video saying he was “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward” on his candidacy.
Already, Democrats in the Pine Tree State are wrangling to replace Platner, something that can happen only if the nominee himself chooses to step aside. Platner would have to make the decision by July 13, as outlined in Maine state law. From there, the state Democratic Party will determine who will replace him, and that person must be named by July 27.
Sanders’ call on Platner is particularly notable, given he endorsed him and has rallied with him repeatedly in Maine. Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to an email regarding Sanders’ decision.
Numerous other former supporters of Platner, from progressive commentators to elected officials, called on him to end his campaign on Monday and Tuesday. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and Democrats’ top Senate super PAC both pulled their financial support on Monday, saying they could not invest in the race to defeat GOP Sen. Susan Collins with Platner as the nominee.
The mass exodus comes after the party had largely stood behind Platner in other scandals, including resurfaced controversial social media posts and a Nazi-linked tattoo.
But POLITICO’s Monday report, where 41-year-old Maine resident Jenny Racicot said Platner entered her home uninvited nearly five years ago and forced himself on her despite her repeatedly telling him to stop, proved to be enough for the party to ditch him.
Racicot said she cut off contact with him after telling him that his actions that night were not consensual.
“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.’”
In past rallies and comments, Sanders had stood behind Platner, even after an earlier storyfrom The New York Times about Platner’s past relationships reported how some women who dated the Maine oysterman said they found some of his behavior unsettling.
“Platner won a landslide victory last night, and I am quite confident that Democrats who want to regain the Senate will be supporting him as the Democratic nominee,” Sanders told reporters on Capitol Hill last month, just after the primary.
Our Revolution, an organization that grew out of Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, called on Platner to end his candidacy before the senator joined in. And they are calling for the Democratic Party not to choose an establishment candidate if he were to be replaced.
“To the Democratic establishment: this is not your opening,” Executive Director Joseph Geevarghese said in a statement. “Whoever leads this movement forward must be someone who has actually lived the fight Graham Platner ran on: a record with working people, with unions, against corporate money, already tested and trusted by the same base that delivered this result.”