On Monday the Maine Senate race was rocked with sexual assault allegations reported by POLITICO against Democratic nominee Graham Platner, who is “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,” according to a statement.
But his withdrawal from the race should be immediate. The accusations by Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident who had what she described as an on-and-off relationship with Platner, are serious and credible, involving a nonconsensual sexual encounter in which she repeatedly asked him to stop and he refused. Among the evidence Racicot used to corroborate her claim to POLITICO were screenshots from a series of Facebook messages in which she warned off an acquaintance from dating him by describing him as “consensually careless.” In a statement, Platner said the accusation was “categorically false” and referred to POLITICO’s reporting as inaccurate.
