To Katie Herklotz, backing Graham Platner in his U.S. Senate bid has felt like being stuck on a “roller coaster” for nearly a year.
In 2020, after Republican Sen. Susan Collins won a fifth consecutive term to the Maine seat, Herklotz thought the state was ready for someone new. “We just need a progressive lobsterman to run against her,” Herklotz, who works in insurance, remembered telling her friends.
Platner, a liberal upstart and oysterman, seemed to fit her vision perfectly when he came onto the scene last year.
Herklotz, 35, stood by him through a series of scandals that surfaced about his personal history. But she said the latest reports of a sexual assault allegation against him have drawn a line that she will not cross. She said she no longer supports him, and hopes he will drop out of the race soon, which would allow another candidate to take his place as the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat.
“I just didn’t really feel like I had a choice anymore,” Herklotz said.
On Monday, news broke that a woman Platner previously dated had accused him of sexual assault. Jenny Racicot said Platner showed up at her home intoxicated and had nonconsensual intercourse with her. After Racicot spoke publicly about her story, Platner denied wrongdoing. He said his campaign was “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward.”
Platner has weathered a spate of controversies surrounding his past comments and behavior toward women. But the new allegation is the first accusation of sexual assault against him.
As Democratic leaders press for Platner to drop out and rescind their endorsements, voters who saw him as a candidate with promise said they have been studying news accounts of the allegations, talking with friends and weighing whether they will remain in his camp.
Democrats, under state law, would be able to put a replacement candidate on the ballot only if Platner steps down by a Monday deadline.
During previous controversies — including over a tattoo that resembled a Nazi symbol that he has since altered, comments he made online about sexual assault and sexually explicit texts he sent to women outside of his marriage — supporters said they were satisfied by how Platner explained himself. He said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder that was untreated at the time of the online comments, and he had gone to therapy to work through his personal struggles.
For weeks, Democratic Mainers and party leaders continued to see the fiery candidate as the state’s best chance at unseating the incumbent Collins.
Ahead of this week, Drake Routhier, 33, was eager to attend his first town hall to hear Platner speak. It was scheduled to take place Monday night in Sanford, where Routhier lives. Hours before the first story of the sexual assault allegation broke, the event was canceled.
At first, Routhier was skeptical, unsure what to believe. He wanted to hear more from Platner.
“Hope youre able to reschedule and get back on the circuit in this area again soon,” Routhier, who works for a bank, wrote in a comment under Platner’s video statement addressing the sexual assault claim.
But in the hours afterward, Routhier reconsidered. He read in its entirety the first report chronicling Racicot’s allegation from Politico. Routhier said he was struck by the details of the encounter and Racicot’s admission that she struggled with whether to come forward because she agreed with Platner’s politics but did not support him as a person.
“It does seem like there have been enough red flags and bad things that he’s done leading up to this, where I just can’t force the support, no matter how much I agree with his policies,” Routhier said. He is now hoping to see Platner exit the race and be replaced by a different progressive candidate.
A handful of Democrats in Maine have already hinted that they would like to take Platner’s place, including gubernatorial candidates Troy Jackson and Nirav Shah.
Christy Cross, a 74-year-old retiree, wasn’t yet ready to abandon Platner. She was conflicted — she thought the allegation that surfaced Monday was very credible, but she did not want to see Collins, whom Cross once voted for, win a sixth term.
Seeing the slate of stories about the new accusation and prominent backers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) pull their endorsements irked her. In her view, people made up their minds too quickly.
“There’s certainly a case to be made that he is, in some ways, not a very good person. On the other hand, we so need what he’s offering in Washington that I think it outweighs it,” said Cross, who described herself as a feminist. “And part of me hates saying that.”
On Tuesday morning, 61-year-old Heidi Byrd also wrestled with her support for Platner. She went to a town hall of his in November, and her front door has boasted a “Graham Platner for Senate” poster ever since.
Byrd, an independent voter, wondered whether any other candidate would have the same pull if the Democrats had to scramble for a new nominee with the November midterm only months away. Mainers had grown faithful to Platner, she thought, precisely because he was a fresh face and a political newcomer with big promises to challenge the Trump administration in Washington.
“Maybe I have blinders on, I don’t know,” Byrd said. “Someone’s got to stand up to Trump.”
Since the allegation became public, Byrd has watched segments about it across the channels on her television. She has texted with friends in Maine who are processing the news. She made plans to talk to her church’s minister about her dilemma on Wednesday.
All the while, she kept contemplating, the Platner poster still taped to her door.
Joanna Slater contributed to this report.
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