Maine Democrats have their work cut out for them this week after Graham Platner, who was accused of rape on Monday by an ex-girlfriend, took one more step toward exiting the campaign.
On Wednesday night, Platner posted an 11-minute video on social media explaining that he was “suspending campaign operations.”
‘What comes next needs to come from the people.’
While maintaining his innocence, Platner blamed the Democrat establishment for making the continuation of his candidacy untenable.
“This is incredibly difficult, because I know that some will think it’s an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not,” he said in the video. “We’re not doing it because of the allegations. We’re doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.”
He intimated that he had not filled out the paperwork to officially suspend his campaign at the time of recording the video but suggested that he intends to do so before the deadline.
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Mel Musto/Bloomberg/Getty Images
“What comes next needs to come from the people,” he said.
Platner has asked his supporters to answer a 48-hour survey with two questions.
The message above the questions reads, in part, “We firmly believe that the supporters and volunteers who built this movement deserve to have a real role in any nomination process. If the Democratic Party hopes to harness our movement, and avoid disillusioning the hundred of thousands of supporters who came into the fray because of our movement’s policies, it must consult the feedback and proposals of the people who built and sustained this.”
While some of the details about “what comes next” are still up in the air, party leaders have been preparing a solution to the selection process, though it remains to be seen if it will be sufficiently “from the people,” as Platner called for.
Multiple outlets reported Wednesday that Democrat leaders are preparing to select a new candidate via a roughly 600-person convention.
The Bangor Daily News, citing an account of a party meeting shared with the outlet, reported that the convention will likely include 500 delegates proportionally selected by county committees as well as the roughly 100 members of the state committee.
Confirmation of these and other details are still forthcoming from the party.
Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson released a statement on Wednesday accusing Platner of “distracting from the job of defeating Susan Collins” while emphasizing the party’s intent to develop “a representative, transparent, and inclusive process to select a new nominee when he chooses to withdraw from the race.”
“While we may be frustrated with Graham Platner’s continued efforts to manipulate this process, we are so thankful for his supporters and all of their efforts to defeat Susan Collins — they are a vital part of our Party and deserve to participate in an open process to select Platner’s replacement,” Murphy-Anderson added.
Platner will need to officially suspend his candidacy before the Democratic Party can begin planning the convention. The deadline is 5 p.m. ET on Monday.
The party must decide on a candidate and announce the decision to the Maine secretary of state by July 27.
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Graham platner, Rape accusation, Secretary of state, Politics, Maine
