Democrat Graham Platner suspends campaign for key US Senate race after assault allegation

Democrat Graham Platner suspends campaign for key US Senate race after assault allegation. Democrat Graham Platner has suspended his campaign for US Senate in Maine, following a series of scandals that included a woman accusing him of sexual assault. In a video posted online, Platner said his decision was not an admission of guilt but due to Democrats' threats to cut off campaign support. He called the assault allegation "false". He said he would officially file to withdraw from the race once he's assured his replacement in the race against Republican Susan Collins is selected in a "transparent and democratic" way. "We're suspending campaign operations," he said in an 11-minute video posted to X, adding that he would file his paperwork to withdraw only after he was assured the process to replace him would be "open and democratic moving forward". Under state law, Platner has to officially drop out by 13 July for a replacement name to be put on the ballot. Jenny Racicot, 41, said she was one of the women interviewed by the Times but did not want to go public with her specific claims because she did not want to be known as a rape victim. In the video on Wednesday, Platner called the allegation "false" and said it was "the worst thing that a person could do, and it was not remotely true". "I learned about this through press inquiries with no time to truly respond, no time for investigations before a corporate media system and the political establishment got to act as judge, jury, and executioner," he said.