By Nolan D. McCaskill
WASHINGTON, July 7 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, the highest-profile backer of Graham Platner in Washington, urged the Maine Democratic Senate nominee on Tuesday to withdraw from the race following a sexual assault allegation Platner has denied.
Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats, joined a growing list of Democrats abandoning Platner after a woman accused him of forcibly having sex with her nearly five years ago. Senate Democratic leaders have said they won’t spend money on the race in Maine, a critical battleground state, if Platner remains on the ballot.
Republicans hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, meaning Democrats need to net four seats to win control. Losing Maine would make that path significantly harder.
Platner, a progressive political upstart, has remained silent after saying on Monday that he was taking time “to reflect on the best path forward” after several media outlets reported that a woman accused him of forcing her to have sex with him nearly five years ago. Platner said the accusation was not true.
On Tuesday, Platner faced another allegation of sexual misconduct when a separate woman he used to date told the Washington Post he removed condoms without her consent during sex.
His campaign told the paper her account was not true. The Platner campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Platner can be replaced on the ballot if he drops out by July 13. The Maine Democratic Party would have until July 27 to select a new nominee. The party has not yet said how it would settle on a new candidate but has said any process would be “open, transparent and inclusive.”
Platner, an oyster farmer and U.S. Marine veteran, has faced a string of controversies, including over Reddit posts, a tattoo resembling a Nazi insignia he covered up, his treatment of women he dated and sexually explicit texts sent to women outside his marriage. Despite his baggage, recent polls showed a competitive general election race.
CANDIDATES VIE FOR SENATE RUN
Potential candidates, including Democrats who lost last month’s primary for governor, were already positioning themselves on Tuesday for a possible Senate run.
Former state Senate President Troy Jackson filed paperwork that allows him to start fundraising for a possible bid, and Our Revolution, a Sanders-aligned outside group, said it would support him after withdrawing its support for Platner.
Nirav Shah, a former state health director, said he is also considering a bid and called on candidates to agree to a debate and town hall appearances.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who lost to Republican Senator Susan Collins in 2014, is another possible candidate.
REPUBLICAN INCUMBENT WELL FUNDED
The Democratic nominee will face Collins, who chairs a panel that oversees the nation’s federal discretionary spending, in November.
Collins, 73, has a nearly $10 million war chest and is backed by multiple outside spending groups. The Senate Leadership Fund has pledged to spend $42 million in Maine, and Pine Tree Results PAC has spent almost $7 million boosting her campaign.
The Pine Tree Results PAC has canceled its ad reservations for next week, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, which suggests Republicans expect Platner to drop out this week.
Mark Brewer, a political science professor at the University of Maine, said Democrats would be better off fielding another candidate than trying to win with Platner.
“If he stays, there’s virtually no way that he could beat Susan Collins in November,” Brewer said. “Until yesterday, I would’ve rated the race as a toss-up … Today, I think it’s definitely in lean Republican category.”
(Reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman and Richard Cowan; Editing by Andy Sullivan, Michael Learmonth, Deepa Babington and Cynthia Osterman)
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