--- title: In Race to Replace Platner, Democratic Socialists in Spotlight description: Crushed by Graham Platner's downfall, Democratic Socialists in Maine find themselves at a crossroads in the fight to replace him. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/07/14/Maine-Democratic-Socialists-Graham-Platner-Senate-race-Democratic-primary/ author: Philip Wang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-07-14T11:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-07-16T19:39:15.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: ‘We Felt Betrayed’: Maine's Democratic Socialists Weigh Next Move After Platner’s Collapse og:description: Crushed by Graham Platner's downfall, Democratic Socialists in Maine find themselves at a crossroads in the fight to replace him. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/07/14/Maine-Democratic-Socialists-Graham-Platner-Senate-race-Democratic-primary/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ab5e9c7c1614c03/6a553040a9e7e41643e6f94b/GettyImages-2277646825.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2277646825.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: ‘We Felt Betrayed’: Maine's Democratic Socialists Weigh Next Move After Platner’s Collapse twitter:description: Crushed by Graham Platner's downfall, Democratic Socialists in Maine find themselves at a crossroads in the fight to replace him. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0ab5e9c7c1614c03/6a553040a9e7e41643e6f94b/GettyImages-2277646825.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # ‘We Felt Betrayed’: Maine's Democratic Socialists Weigh Next Move After Platner’s Collapse > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Updated: Jul 16, 2026 7:39 PM UTCPublished: Jul 14, 2026 11:00 AM UTC  From left: Troy Jackson, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Graham Platner during a Fighting Oligarchy event in Portland, Maine, on May 25, 2026. From left: Troy Jackson, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Graham Platner during a Fighting Oligarchy event in Portland, Maine, on May 25, 2026. Sophie Park–Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Updated: Jul 16, 2026 7:39 PM UTCPublished: Jul 14, 2026 11:00 AM UTC The race to replace Graham Platner is on, as Maine Democrats on Monday announced a June 25 convention to field a replacement for the scandal-plagued Senate candidate. As the field of candidates to take on Senator Susan Collins jockey for endorsements, one of the state’s leading progressive organizations finds itself at a crossroads about the role it wants to play in a race that could decide control of the Senate. “A lot of people were really despairing after the Platner news dropped, because we felt betrayed,” says Wesley Pelletier, a key member of the Maine chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and a Portland City Councilor. While Graham Platner was never a member of the DSA, his platform aligned closely with the organization’s priorities: universal healthcare, affordable housing, abolishing ICE, suspending military aid to Israel. Yet the Maine DSA had a complicated relationship with Platner. Even before sexual assault allegations ended Platner’s campaign last week, DSA members had enough concerns about his past to be wary, to the point that the chapter had stopped short of formally endorsed him. Platner’s campaign implosion comes as democratic socialists have enjoyed a winning streak across the country. In races in New York, Colorado, and Washington, D.C., candidates who are either DSA members or aligned with the group have won a string of primary victories this year. “I had to remind myself that he might be the face of this movement, but he's not the only person working in this movement,” says Hawo Mohamed, a longtime DSA member based in Portland. Maine is different from other places where progressives are flexing their political muscle. It’s a longtime blue state, but one with a mostly white working-class electoral base that has a history of backing moderates. It’s why Collins has held her Senate seat for nearly three decades. Many Democrats fear a nominee seen as too liberal will play to Collins’ strengths. But Maine’s democratic socialists argue Platner’s platform was key to his ability to electrify so much of the party’s voters. “If we have a campaign that picks up the pieces that are on the ground right now and runs with that,” Pelletier says, “Collins will be gone.” # **“Undeniably true”** Long before the latest sexual assault allegations came to light, Platner’s support among Maine Democratic Socialists was already marred by distrust and concerns about his personal character. The group typically requires sign-on from 15 members to trigger an endorsement vote for a candidate, Pelletier says. Platner wasn’t able to meet that threshold, in light of a list of scandals, including a [trove of controversial Reddit posts](https://www.bangordailynews.com/2026/05/13/politics/elections/maine-graham-platner-reddit-comments-archive/) and his having gotten a tattoo that appeared to resemble Nazi iconography. In early June, the Maine DSA [published](https://web.archive.org/web/20260707140740/https://www.mainedsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Maine-DSA-Voter-Guide-Primary-2026-1.pdf?ref=liberalcurrents.com) a since-deleted voter guide that recommended that members vote for Platner, while conceding that his candidacy did come with baggage. “Platner isn’t the perfect candidate. His unforced errors reflect a campaign that needs to tighten up and stop running like they know he’s in the lead,” the voter guide reads. While some have argued that the DSA’s recommendation amounts to an endorsement, Maine DSA members [stress](https://x.com/DSA%5FMaine/status/2074374354209579100) that it was a step below the endorsements the chapter had made in other races. “Our organization is more important to us than getting on board the zeitgeist,” Pelletier said. The distrust with Platner reached critical mass last week, when [Politico](https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/06/graham-platner-sexual-assault-allegation-00987737) detailed an alleged sexual assault incident between Platner and 41-year-old Jenny Racicot in 2021, years before Platner decided to run for the U.S. Senate. Racicot said Platner showed up at her door while inebriated and had sex with her without her consent. Platner has repeatedly [denied](https://x.com/grahamformaine/status/2074214272628916296?s=20) the allegations. Mohamed said she felt angry and shocked when she first read the article. “As a woman, you have that gut feeling in your body that is unmistakable, and I think every Maine woman felt that,” Mohamed said. Pelletier says the saga was “difficult” for him to process at first, because previous allegations about Platner’s history with women published in The New York _Times_ had left him and other DSA members with questions about whether to believe them. The latest allegations were different, Pelletier says, recalling the heartbreak he immediately felt for Racicot. “I got halfway through, and I was like, ‘No, this one's real.’” # **The race to replace Platner** As the Maine Democratic Party scrambles to pick Platner’s replacement before a June 27 deadline, the progressives and establishment wings of the party are jockeying for influence. Seven candidates have thrown their hats into the ring so far. The top contenders include Troy Jackson, a DSA-endorsed gubernatorial candidate who lost the primary and a longtime working-class state legislator; Nirav Shah, a former state and federal health official who is seen as more moderate than Jackson; and Shenna Bellows, Maine’s Secretary of State who previously failed to unseat Susan Collins in 2014\. The Maine DSA has not endorsed in the race yet, though Pelletier says he has endorsed Jackson in his role as a city councilor. Jackson has also received the endorsement of Our Revolution, a liberal group founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders that had previously endorsed Sanders. “He is a very working-class humble candidate,” Pelletier says of Jackson. “He is very genuine, and I think he represents what a lot of people in Maine feel about politics.” But regardless of who clinches the nomination, both Mohamed and Pelletier hope that the national Democratic Party will stay out of this shortened, high-profile primary, even though people like Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer had tried to steer the nomination away from Platner. Pelletier pointed to this year’s Democratic primary race in Maine’s second congressional district, where the establishment-backed Joe Baldacci [lost](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/maine-2nd-district-primary-results-matt-dunlap-jared-golden/) to his progressive rival Matt Dunlap. “I think Maine is uniquely difficult to influence in that way,” Pelletier says. **Correction, July 16** The original version of this story misstated the name of a democratic socialist based in Portland, Maine. 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