Maine's Democratic Senate nominee is weighing his political future after a woman he once dated accused him of sexual assault—an allegation he firmly rejects. Jenny Racicot, 41, tells Politico that Graham Platner, with whom she had an on-and-off relationship starting in 2019, showed up uninvited and "almost blackout drunk" at her rural home in late 2021 and forced sex on her despite repeated refusals. She says he then fell asleep and she thought about waking him up to kick him out, but decided he was in no fit state to drive. She says she later told him the encounter was not consensual and cut off contact.
Racicot did not go to police but shared her account with a therapist and several other people over the following years; Politico reviewed emails and messages that align with her story. Racicot previously told the New York Times that she cut off all contact with Platner after "unsettling" behavior. She tells Politico that she didn't come forward earlier with the sexual assault allegation because she didn't want to be known as a rape victim. She says she decided to go public because allegations of troubling behavior from another one of Platner's exes led to controversy over the woman's Republican Party links.
- Racicot, who says she agrees with Platner politically, describes a "moral conflict" in coming forward but says voters "should have a whole scope of who he is as a person."
Platner calls the accusation "troubling, serious, and false" and says any claim of non-consensual behavior is "categorically untrue." He says, however, that he is considering "next steps" for his campaign, the AP reports. "Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we're taking the time to reflect on the best path forward," he said in a video posted Monday afternoon on X. Earlier in the day, he canceled two town halls in Maine, reports the Portland Press Herald. Under state law, the Democratic Party can name a new nominee if the primary winner withdraws by July 13.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
