Graham Platner drops out of Senate race

By C-SPAN

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Graham Platner, the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Maine, announced Wednesday night that he will drop out of the race following a sexual assault allegation by a former girlfriend. “We believe that for the movement to continue, it can’t be me, and for that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,” Mr. Platner said in a video posted to social media. Mr. Platner denies the allegation but had faced growing calls to end his campaign from supporters and Democratic leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT). “This is all false,” he said. “The things that have been claimed did not happen, it’s not real.” His campaign had already been plagued by a series of scandals, including revelations that he sent sexually explicit text messages to women while married and controversial social media posts. Maine Democrats now have less than three weeks to choose a new candidate to take on Sen. Susan Collins