Picture: Joe Raedle/Getty Photographs
Progressive upstart Graham Platner, who is about to face off towards Senator Susan Collins of Maine in probably the most contested races this election season, has been accused of raping a lady he casually dated. He denies the allegation.
Jenny Recicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident, claims that an intoxicated Platner pressured her to have intercourse with him 5 years in the past regardless of her repeated calls for that he cease. “I bear in mind him grabbing my pelvis and being actually forceful of me,” she instructed Politico, which first reported the allegations. “I bear in mind the precise second the place I assumed to myself, like, ‘That is now not my alternative.’”
Platner’s meteoric rise as a political newcomer has been exceptional. After launching his marketing campaign final 12 months, he led Democratic governor Janet Mills, a sitting governor who was backed by Institution Democrats, in polling. Mills dropped out in April, a full two months earlier than the Democratic major, which Platner simply received. And despite the fact that he has been adopted by ongoing controversies that might have sunk a marketing campaign in one other political period, he acquired the endorsements of many high-profile Democrats corresponding to Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, in addition to organizations together with main labor unions, Indivisible, and Deliberate Parenthood.
However following the newest rape allegation, the fallout has been swift. State celebration management, allies, and different main organizations who had endorsed Platner rescinded their assist nearly instantly following the report. Platner additionally suspended his marketing campaign occasions for the remainder of the week.
In a video posted on X, he referred to as the allegations towards him “categorically false.” His marketing campaign additionally instructed Politico the allegations had been “coached and coordinated by out of state institution operatives” — an accusation his group has levied throughout different scandals they allege had been orchestrated to push him out of the race.
pic.twitter.com/9itIt4Mw25
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) July 6, 2026
Recicot, who dated Platner on and off for 2 years, claims that he raped her in late 2021. She says that on the night time of the alleged assault she instructed Platner he shouldn’t come over to her rural Maine house. And but he did, letting himself into her home, the place the doorways had been unlocked, she says. Racicot says that Platner was “nearly blackout drunk” and compelled himself on her despite the fact that she repeatedly instructed him no.
Racicot says Platner had intercourse together with her towards her will and ejaculated within her despite the fact that she instructed him “no” as a result of she wasn’t on contraception. She claims that he fell asleep whereas she was cleansing herself up and she or he was afraid he would harm another person whereas driving below the affect, so she didn’t wake him up. Racicot says that the subsequent morning, she pushed Platner away when he tried to place his arms round her and requested him whether or not he remembered the assault. She alleges that he didn’t; afterward, she says, she instructed him to depart and minimize off contact with him. Racicot says she spoke with him as soon as extra a number of weeks later, when she confirmed she wasn’t pregnant. She claims she instructed Platner their encounter had not been consensual and to by no means contact her once more.
Politico reported that Racicot shared particulars of the alleged assault together with her therapist, an ex-partner, and an acquaintance lengthy earlier than Platner introduced his senatorial bid. Nonetheless, she says she was hesitant to return ahead. Racicot had beforehand instructed the New York Instances that Platner had engaged in “reckless” and “unsettling” habits throughout their on-and-off relationship; she instructed Politico that she solely shared particulars in regards to the alleged assault with the Instances off the report as a result of she didn’t wish to be identified publicly as a rape sufferer. However after the allegations of bodily altercations made by one other girl within the Instances report had been dismissed by Platner’s supporters as politically motivated, Racicot felt like she wanted to go public in regards to the extent of her expertise with him.
“One of many causes I didn’t come ahead sooner was, the large ethical battle that I had between supporting his politics, however not supporting him as an individual,” she mentioned. “I simply need the reality on the market. I simply need individuals to have an entire scope of who he’s as an individual.”
Racicot’s claims are simply the newest scandal Platner has been embroiled in since final fall. Two months after launching his marketing campaign, the media uncovered Platner’s yearsold Reddit posts, wherein he used the slur “retarded” liberally and expressed different offensive views. In one of many posts, Platner mentioned sexual-assault survivors ought to “take some duty for themselves and never get so fucked up they wind up having intercourse with somebody they don’t imply to?” He apologized for the posts and mentioned he made the feedback throughout a darkish interval in his life. Then it was revealed that for years, Platner had a skull-and-crossbones tattoo resembling the “dying’s head” image traditionally utilized by the Nazis’s paramilitary forces and which has been adopted in fashionable instances by neo-Nazis. He lined up the tattoo after public backlash.
Extra controversies have surfaced up to now few weeks. Shops reported that as not too long ago as final 12 months, Platner had exchanged sexually specific messages with at the very least half a dozen girls regardless of being married. And in early June, three girls who dated Platner — together with Racicot — instructed the New York Instances that he had been risky and poisonous throughout their relationships. One of many girls alleged that in arguments Platner had grabbed her by the shoulders, generally with sufficient drive to bruise; she added that when he shoved her right into a room and blocked the door so she couldn’t go away till she was “calm.” Platner forcefully denied the allegations.
Even earlier than the newest report, Democratic strategists and different stakeholders in Maine fearful that Platner’s rolling scandals couldn’t solely value him the election but additionally affect the celebration’s possibilities in different races. In his video following the Politico story, Platner acknowledged that the allegation posed a risk to his candidacy in one of many prime contests this midterm election. “Whatever the inaccuracy of the reporting however aware of the political actuality it can inflict, we’re taking the time to mirror on the very best path ahead,” he mentioned.
What that path ahead could appear like is unclear. The Democratic Senatorial Marketing campaign Committee, which opposed Platner within the major, referred to as for him to withdraw and warned it will not spend money on the race if he remained on the ticket. Key allies corresponding to Warren, Sanders, and Consultant Ro Khanna have additionally mentioned Platner ought to step down. The timeline for doing so is extremely tight. Per Maine regulation, Platner has till July 13 — lower than every week from now — to tug out of the race. If he does, the state Democratic Social gathering would have solely two weeks to switch him on the poll.
Defeating Susan Collins has been seen as an important step if Democrats hope to achieve success of their makes an attempt to flip the Senate. Whether or not Platner’s embattled marketing campaign forges on or he’s changed by one other candidate, that aim simply turned even tougher to realize.
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