FREEPORT, Maine - In a crisis born of scandal, Maine Democrats are running out of time to replace their collapsed Senate nominee with someone capable of challenging Republican incumbent Susan Collins. The clock stops July 27 at 5 p.m. There are roughly three weeks to pick a new standard-bearer.
Graham Platner, who won the Democratic primary handily, withdrew Wednesday evening after an ex-girlfriend accused him of sexual assault in 2021. He has denied the allegation. The party's scramble to find a replacement has exposed deep fractures in its strategy and donor base, even as at least six candidates have already announced they're running to replace him.
The desperation was visible Friday at a campaign launch for Nirav Shah, who directed Maine's response to Covid-19 before losing last month's gubernatorial primary. Volunteers were working furiously to repurpose campaign materials. They peeled "Shah for Governor" stickers and retaped them to read just "Shah." They covered Platner's name on old yard signs and spelled "Nirav" over top in tape. The retrofit aesthetic told the whole story.
Maine Democrats will hold a convention to pick their replacement, though no date has been set. The party demands that candidates collect petitions from Maine Democratic voters to qualify for the ballot beyond simply announcing their candidacy, according to Devon Murphy-Anderson, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party.
The field reflects the leftist-versus-pragmatist tension that fractured the original primary. Troy Jackson, a logger and former Maine Senate president, quickly secured backing from Our Revolution, the group aligned with Bernie Sanders and Ro Khanna. Khanna, who had backed Platner, pivoted to praise Jackson's positions on Medicare for All, Gaza, and labor rights. Jackson positioned himself as a "progressive fighter" for "working class people."
Other candidates are copying Platner's anti-establishment playbook to try to inherit his coalition. Nirav Shah called himself an "outsider" unwilling to accept a "broken system." Jordan Wood, who lost two primaries in a row, touted himself as a "progressive reformer" with a contrarian streak. "I have been told that I am too progressive, that I am too young, that a gay man can't win," Wood said. "These cynics are wrong."
Dan Kleban, co-founder of Maine Beer Company, leaned heavily on his outsider status and business success. But he also made a point of distancing himself from national Democratic leadership, specifically Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. "If we want to change how Washington works, we have to change who is running the show," Kleban wrote on X. Schumer had endorsed Governor Janet Mills over Platner in the primary, making him a convenient villain for candidates trying to capture Platner's anti-establishment voter base.
Shenna Bellows, Maine's secretary of state, is seen by some Democrats as the establishment choice. She ran for Senate against Collins in 2014 and lost by 37 points, but has since been elected statewide and gained wider recognition. Bellows emphasized her track record of fighting for working people.
The entire process underscores how perilous the situation has become for Democrats in what national strategists consider a critical battleground. Maine is seen as essential if Democrats want to reclaim the Senate from Republicans in November. Yet the party has little margin for error with Collins, who has held the seat since 1997.
Party volunteers and longtime backers are grappling with the whiplash. Robin Ratcliffe, who has lived in Maine for more than two decades and voted for Platner in the primary, told NBC News she felt "devastated" by his withdrawal but conceded it was "the right thing to do under the circumstances." She worried aloud that the next few weeks "could be a mess."
Not everyone is convinced the new nominee, whenever chosen, will have a real shot. Gary Brunotte, another Platner supporter in Portland, expressed frustration that Platner didn't step aside earlier if he knew he couldn't survive scrutiny. Now facing a compressed timeline and a fractured field, Brunotte sees an opening that may have closed. "I'm just disappointed that he had a chance at beating Collins," he told NBC News. "Now I don't know if anybody can, and that's going to be the problem."
Author Sarah Mitchell: "Maine Democrats are in a panic for good reason - they've got three weeks to build a credible alternative from parts that don't quite fit together, and they're running out of margin for error against one of the most entrenched incumbents in the Senate."
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