Read the full story here.

“We have just a couple of weeks to choose a new candidate,” Pingree said. “We have a very deep bench of people ready and willing to step up. I’m going to remain neutral in this race.”

Platner suspended his campaign this week after a Maine woman accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021. He denied the allegations but said he would withdraw from the race, citing a loss of support and funding.

As of Friday, he had not done so.

Platner needs to formally withdraw by 5 p.m. on Monday for Democrats to choose a replacement. If he does, Democrats will have until July 27 to choose a new nominee.

The Maine Democratic Party plans to hold a statewide convention with about 600 delegates to be selected by county committees to choose a new candidate. Exact details on the process, date and location are still being finalized.

County committees have started releasing details of how they will select delegates to send to the convention, but have been careful to note that many aspects of the process are still being worked out.

The party has also released criteria for candidates, who must submit declarations of their intent to run by Wednesday, July 15, and must gather at least 500 supporting signatures from voters by July 20.

Some county officials have indicated that candidates would have an opportunity to speak at the convention and delegates, who would be unpledged, would then have a chance to vote to select the nominee. The state party has not confirmed that process.

According to the Waldo County Democratic Committee, the convention is expected to take place July 25 or 26, and will probably be held in Bangor.

The process, of course, is contingent on Graham Platner filing his official paperwork to withdraw — something he has said he plans to do on the final day possible, on Monday.

Read the full story here about what we know and don’t know about the convention as of this afternoon.

Shah is among the handful of Democrats running in a pop-up primary for U.S. Senate after the party’s original nominee, Graham Platner, suspended his campaign this week after a Maine woman accused him of sexual assault.

Platner denied the allegations, but said he would withdraw from the race, after losing his most prominent supporters and funders.

Platner needs to formally withdraw by 5 p.m. on Monday for Democrats to choose a replacement. On Wednesday, he said he planned to exit the race. As of Friday, he had not done so. He is reportedly waiting until Monday.

Democrats will have until July 27 to choose a new nominee.

The Maine Democratic Party plans to hold a statewide convention with about 600 delegates to be selected by county committees to choose a new candidate. Exact details on the process, date and location are still being finalized.

Read the full story here. 

With the Democratic party facing a July 27 deadline to nominate a new candidate, the debates would have to be organized and held on a consolidated timeline.

More than a half dozen candidates have already announced that they plan to seek the nomination, including Shah and other candidates who ran in primaries for governor and Congress.

“Democrats deserve to see how each of us fights for what we believe in,” Shah said in a written statement. “That is not something voters can learn from a press release or a fundraising email. It requires watching a candidate stand on a stage, take hard questions, and defend their values in real time.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Maine Democratic Party (@mainedems)

Each candidate must submit at least 500 valid signatures, but no more than 1,000, and they must gather signatures in at least eight counties.

The party has launched a section on its website about the Senate nomination process that lays out the criteria for candidates in further detail and other information.

“We apologize for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused,” Oxford County Democrats said in its retraction Thursday evening. “We are currently working to provide accurate and updated information, which will be communicated shortly.”

Costello said he is “dedicated to eliminating the corrupting influence of money and disinformation in our politics,” and he shared a range of progressive policies he would support to align himself with parts of Platner’s platform, including Medicare for All and increased taxes on wealthy residents.

A former top aide to former governors and mayors in Maryland and in the Maine secretary of state’s office, Costello’s resume also includes serving as acting secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment and with the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Still, he has struggled in past elections, coming in last in June’s U.S. Senate primary behind Platner and Gov. Janet Mills with about 8% of the vote. In 2024, Costello challenged U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, but finished well behind both King and Republican Demi Kouzounas.

“Maine’s middle- and working-class families deserve a reform-minded candidate they can readily identify with — someone committed to fixing Washington and ensuring all Mainers, not just the wealthy, have the education, job skills, healthcare and other life enriching resources to thrive,” Costello said Thursday. 

The convention is expected to be held on or around July 25. The party has until July 27 to choose a replacement for Platner once he formally withdraws, which his campaign says he will do Monday.

The Sagadahoc Democrats are to select about 16 delegates, plus alternates, Kessler said, and he hopes some “outstanding issues” can be resolved at a meeting of committee chairs Thursday night.

“I am encouraged by the number of potential candidates and the outpouring of interest in this race. It is a testimony to how much Mainers want change,” Kessler stated. “I am hopeful that the nominating convention will produce someone who will inspire us forward.”

A Platner campaign official confirmed the plan to the Press Herald after Axios first reported on it Thursday but did not share further comment.

The ballot removal deadline is 5 p.m. Monday, and Maine Democrats are already hurrying to set up a convention featuring about 600 delegates who will pick a nominee to replace Platner by a required July 27 deadline.

As Maine’s first female secretary of state, Bellows made headlines for her willingness to take on President Donald Trump, including in a fight over his ballot access in 2024. Bellows sided with a group of Maine residents who challenged Trump’s eligibility because of his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, but she ultimately reversed her decision to keep him off the ballot following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on a similar case out of Colorado.

She’s also clashed with the president and his administration over issues regarding voter registration data and access to undercover license plates for immigration agents.

Bellows served as head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine from 2005 to 2013.

“I have spent my entire career taking on tough fights and doing the right thing, even when the challenge in front of me was seemingly impossible, from fighting for marriage equality at the ACLU to protecting Mainers’ voter data from Donald Trump’s Department of Justice,” Bellows said in a written statement. “That’s what I will do again in this campaign.”

Bellows challenged Collins for her Senate seat in 2014 but lost by a wide margin, receiving 31% of the vote.

That notice must be submitted in writing and signed; it may be sent via email. The deadline is 5 p.m. Monday.

While the department does not typically notify the media of candidate withdrawals, Spaulding said officials anticipate that they will send a news release when Platner submits his paperwork because of the high level of interest.

“As the campaign announcements flood in,” the Maine Republican Party posted on Facebook on Thursday, “let’s remember that up until just this week, many of the new Democrat U.S. Senate candidates were endorsed by and endorsed Graham Platner through the Nazi tattoo reveal, the sexting on Kik, and the blatant disrespect for women, veterans, and many different people groups.”

Former congressional staffer and third-place 2nd District candidate Jordan Wood and Maine Brewing Co. owner Dan Kleban stand apart from the growing crowd of candidates as the two who did not support Platner throughout his campaign. Kleban supported Gov. Janet Mills in her ultimately unsuccessful campaign for Senate, while Wood — initially a candidate in the Senate race himself — called on Platner to drop out after the revelation of Reddit posts in which he used homophobic slurs.

The chairman of the Republican National Convention, Joe Grutters, joined the Maine GOP in attacking Democrats who stood by Platner. In a statement Wednesday shortly after Platner withdrew, Grutters said, “Democrats rolled in the mud with Platner, and now they are completely stained by their association with this sick monster.”

Also on the list are several current and former state lawmakers, including Sens. Stacy Brenner, D-Scarborough, and Joe Rafferty, D-Kennebunk.

“I am humbled by the outpouring of support I’ve received over the past 12 hours,” Jackson said in a written statement. “To have the support of so many local and community leaders along with thousands of Mainers, is the honor of a lifetime.”

“I have been told that I am too progressive, that I am too young, that a gay man can’t win,” Wood said in a news release. “These cynics are wrong. They have been wrong all of our lives. They remain wrong today. I’m asking for your support to take back control of our party, and our country.”

Wood’s announcement brings him full circle. He was one of the first Democrats to run for U.S. Senate last year, but he withdrew and instead ran for the 2nd Congressional District seat after Gov. Janet Mills entered the race as the establishment favorite and U.S. Rep. Jared Golden announced he would not seek reelection.

Wood came in third in the 2nd District primary, winning nearly 29% of the of the first-place votes.

“Platner built an admirable movement,” Axelrod wrote. “But there was nothing admirable about the way he said goodbye.”

Here’s a breakdown of what Platner said and some context.

“Establishment politicians have failed us. Maine deserves a fighter in this seat, and I will be that fighter,” he said in a statement.

In his announcement, Shah hit on many of the same policy notes that Platner often talked about on the campaign trail: Taxing the wealthy, expanding Medicare to make it available to all, ending President Donald Trump’s conflicts overseas.

Once Platner formally withdraws from the race, Democrats have until July 27 to name a replacement.

Senate Majority PAC spokesperson Lauren French said in a statement that “Susan Collins is the most vulnerable Republican this cycle,” citing similar reasons.

Both said their groups are committed to helping a Democratic nominee defeat Collins in November.

Kleban said Maine needs a political outsider in the Senate race.

“I think that’s another reason why Graham really caught on,” he said. “He’s not a career politician. I’m also not a career politician.”

On Wednesday, Joseph Geevarghese, Our Revolution’s executive director, said Platner “made the right decision to step aside.”

“Maine’s progressives won the primary by a historic margin, on Medicare for All, on ending corporate money in politics, on ending forever wars. That result doesn’t disappear because one candidate is gone,” Geevarghese said. “That is why we are rallying behind Troy Jackson.”

Jackson , who unsuccessfully ran for governor this year, filed to explore a Senate run after calling on Platner to withdraw earlier this week.

 “I’m in. And we’re going to defeat Susan Collins,” Jackson said. “Maine deserves a Senator that will fight for working families.”

“Democrats rolled in the mud with Platner, and now they are completely stained by their association with this sick monster,” he said in a statement.

Alex Latcham, executive director of the Senate Leadership Fund, criticized the Democratic Party for having “tipped the scales against Maine voters.”

“Democrats have not suddenly embraced moral clarity. Graham Platner was never an acceptable nominee for Chuck Schumer, his billionaire donors, and the beltway media,” Latcham said. “Now, at the 11th hour, the Democrat Establishment has tipped the scales against Maine voters in an attempt to salvage their failing midterm strategy. Regardless of who Washington Democrats install, Senator Susan Collins will win in November.”

“There is an unprecedented amount of energy and enthusiasm among Maine Democrats, driven in part by many of the dedicated volunteers and supporters who were inspired by Graham Platner’s campaign,” said the statement from party Chair Charlie Dingman, Vice Chair Imke Schessler and Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson. “We look forward to coming together and harnessing that energy around our new nominee as we work to defeat Susan Collins in November.”

“I believed he could be the kind of plainspoken, populist progressive ‘Mamdani for Maine’ candidate that our party is starving for. And I believe Jenny Racicot and Lyndsey Fifield.” Suttle-Braun wrote. “I want to leave those two sentences sitting next to each other, because the discomfort between them is the whole point.”

Suttle-Braun emphasized that her “good experience” with Platner does not compromise Racicot and Fifield’s accounts.

“For a decade, Democrats have told ourselves that we looked at the Trump era and resolved to root this out. We are the party of ‘Me Too,’” she wrote. “In practice, we can be just as quick to protect our own men and reassure ourselves that it is different because our men vote the right way.”

Shah, a former deputy director at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said he hasn’t made a final decision yet about whether he would get in the race if Graham Platner drops out and is continuing to discuss it with his family.

He said he believes he would be well-positioned after having received the most first-round votes in the gubernatorial primary and that his campaign infrastructure could easily be transitioned to a Senate run.

“Sen. Collins has been bad for Maine and bad for Mainers,” Shah said. “She has not yielded what a senator should, which are policies that are best for everybody. I’ve got the background, both having worked at the federal level, and with the Senate, to make the clearest case as to why she should be defeated.”

“There is no path to beating Susan Collins without honoring and engaging the grassroots movement that has been built across Maine,” Toth wrote in his resignation letter.

Toth had been working as an organizing director for the party since the June primary. Spokespeople for the Maine Democrats did not immediately respond to questions about Toth’s role or resignation.

Toth said that, over his 11 months, the Platner campaign and volunteers have built something “much bigger than one candidate” and amassed “the largest grassroots operation in Maine history.”

That movement is rooted in “working class politics,” he said.

Read the full piece here.

Platner and state party leaders are in a standoff over who would replace him on the ballot, if he drops out of the race. Maine Democrats are effectively frozen in place until he makes a decision.

A survey sent to supporters early Wednesday afternoon, asking respondents what their messages to the party and Platner are, said the campaign had “officially initiated a process that will extend for the next 48 hours engaging those tens of thousands of Mainers asking them what they believe should come next.”

A Platner spokesperson declined to comment on what that 48-hour window meant, when it had started and whether Platner would wait that long to break his silence on his campaign’s future.

Platner cannot be forced off the ballot. He would have to withdraw by 5 p.m. on Monday for Democrats to replace him with a new candidate. If he does drop out, the party will have until July 27 to name a replacement.

Geiger, a 70-year-old former Veterans Affairs nurse who is seeking a fourth term in the Maine House this fall, said she agreed to be considered as a potential replacement for Platner on the November ballot but is more focused on ensuring any nominee continues to spread his “economic message” that a clear majority of voters supported in the June primary.

Alluding to the sexual assault claim that may end Platner’s campaign, Geiger said she feels Platner has worked to “redeem” and improve himself over the years but that it “does not mean we are not held accountable” for past actions. There is “no time to fairly adjudicate” a sexual assault allegation ahead of the deadline to finalize the party’s preferred choice to face U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in November, she added.

“He sees there’s no path forward, and he is trying his very best to figure out how to make sure the movement and what he stood for survives,” Geiger said.

Geiger also bashed the Maine Democratic Party and its executive director, Devon Murphy-Anderson, for clashing with Platner’s campaign this week and for not yet revealing how the process would work to find a replacement for Platner if he ends his campaign. Geiger said she was calling party leaders Wednesday to urge them to outline a “clear, public process” that includes the party’s delegates gathering again in a public space, accepting nominations from the floor, letting candidates give speeches and then having delegates vote on the new nominee.

“Everyone has been shut out, and that’s unacceptable,” Geiger said.

Her statement came shortly after Platner’s campaign announced it is conducting a survey asking voters for feedback on the race that would be shared with the party. Platner campaign manager Ben Chin also criticized the party Wednesday afternoon for planning a potential nominating process “behind closed doors” and said the campaign should have input into a possible replacement.

“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 said.

Kleban told the Press Herald on Wednesday he is “ready to hit the ground running,” as his campaign team from last year is mostly still in place and donors are standing by.

If Platner drops out of the race and Kleban wins his party’s nomination for the chance to unseat U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, then he said the message of making life more affordable for Mainers that he focused on during last year’s short-lived Senate bid is still his focus. Kleban highlighted how he and his brother, David, built Maine Beer Co. into a well-known, award-winning brewery that employs more than 100 Mainers, pays staff a livable wage and covers 100% of their health insurance costs.

Kleban, whose wife is a nurse and who has 15-year-old twins, reiterated how he was laid off as a young lawyer amid the Great Recession due to the actions of “a lot of greedy investors.”

“I never endorsed Graham, and I’ll let that speak itself, but…I think a lot of what Graham talked about, a lot of what he tapped into about people’s righteous anger, that this system is rigged, is a lot of what I bring to the table,” Kleban said in a phone interview.

The focus must remain on ultimately beating Collins in November, he added.

“You can create an economy that not only works for the entrepreneur, but [it] works for the workers, it works for the community, it works for the environment,” Kleban said.

It comes as Platner has faced widespread calls both locally and nationally to drop out of the race after a Maine woman accused him of raping her in 2021. The allegations were detailed in a story published by Politico on Monday.

Platner denied the accusations. As of early Wednesday afternoon, he hadn’t announced plans to drop out, but he has reportedly been trying to shape the process for finding a replacement candidate.

Devon Murphy-Anderson, the executive director of Maine Democrats, said in a video Tuesday night that Platner “would have no role” in the process.

Platner would have to voluntarily withdraw by 5 p.m. on Monday for Democrats to be able to replace him. If he does drop out, the party will have until July 27 to name a new candidate.

The DSCC originally aligned itself to Platner’s opponent, Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign in April after trailing in the polls and fundraising.

Chin said the campaign, which has broadly criticized the political establishment, should have input about a possible replacement nominee and what the replacement process would look like.

“If the Maine Democratic Party hopes to harness our movement, and avoid disillusioning the hundreds 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,” Chin said.

Spokespeople for the Maine Democratic Party did not immediately respond to a request to comment.

Platner’s campaign has said they have a network of more than 15,000 volunteers.

The campaign is also conducting a survey, asking asking supporters what messages they have to the party and for Platner. The survey will be open for 48 hours.

Platner would need to dropout before 5 p.m. Monday for the party to be able to replace him on the ballot.

So far, he has not said whether he will drop out or when, frustrating party leaders.

If you are a Platner staffer and would like to resign in solidarity with survivors but are worried about financial repercussions, send us your resume and we’ll help you find your next gig. We did the same thing for Swalwell staff. This offer does not extend to his highly paid… pic.twitter.com/ZNB2ktTiv1

— Cheyenne Hunt (@CheyenneHuntCA) July 8, 2026

“Taking a stand against abusers is critical, but it’s also important that you are able to feed yourself while we are in a cost of living crisis,” Hunt said.

Hunt had previously endorsed Platner, but withdrew her support after the New York Times published an article last month detailing the candidate’s “unsettling” behavior in previous romantic relationships.

Reckoning Action made the same pitch to staffers of former Rep. Eric Swalwell, who dropped out of the race for California governor and resigned his position in Congress in April after several women accused him of sexually assaulting or harassing them.

While Democrats wait for him to drop out, the nation has witnessed an extraordinary public debate about the party’s strategy — a month after the primary that would have normally put a lid on infighting, and just four months before a general election against five-term incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.

A familiar cast of characters is back, and the uncertain process for replacing Platner represents a new front of debate.

Read the full story here.

“I wanted you people to hear first that that is not going to happen,” she told followers. “That is not an option.”

She said she would rather continue her 3 million-subscriber daily newsletter, which she said is her most effective way to continue “protecting American democracy.”

“I love Maine,” Cain posted on Facebook. “I believe in public service. And it has been great to hear from friends and former colleagues encouraging me, but I am not running for the U.S. Senate this year.”

Cain is working on Democrat Hannah Pingree’s campaign for governor and said that will continue to be her focus.

Several leaders of county Democratic committees interviewed by the Portland Press Herald said they are weighing how to proceed with picking a new nominee should Platner drop out. Some are pushing for intra-party caucuses, others are advocating for county and state Democratic leaders to select a candidate — though none would say whether they think Platner should drop his candidacy.

“The path forward is still being forged. But I am pushing behind the scenes for an open, fair and transparent process to get a new candidate,” said Greg Marley, chair of the Knox County Democratic Committee.

The Maine Democratic Party has said neither Platner or his campaign will have a say in what that process looks like or who the candidate will be. Devon Murphy-Anderson, the party’s executive director, has called on Platner to drop out of the race so the process can begin.

“It actually makes me sick to my stomach,” said 47-year-old Natalie Krueger, of Sabattus.

“It’s hugely disappointing for the Democrats,” said Mark Siladi, a 65-year-old from Waterboro who had donated to Platner’s campaign.

The latest allegation from Jenny Racicot, a woman Platner dated for years, that he had drunkenly raped her in 2021 has crossed a line for many of those who powered the 41-year-old oysterman’s unlikely ascent into the national political spotlight.

Now many supporters of Platner, who previously seemed impervious to an onslaught of controversies that had dogged his campaign for months, are throwing away their campaign yard signs and anxiously awaiting Platner’s withdrawal from the race.

“I was hoping to believe him,” said Belgrade voter Joan Blethen, 76. “But now I can’t.”

Read the full story

Platner denies the allegations and has said he is “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,” although calls for him to drop out have escalated.

Platner’s campaign, meanwhile, has pulled all of its planned social media advertising and no longer has any booked TV or digital ads, according to AdImpact.

Read the full column

“We’ve repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like,” Devon Murphy-Anderson, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party, said in a statement. “We have also reiterated that Graham Platner must drop out of this race so that Democrats in Maine can focus on defeating Susan Collins this November.”

Platner, whose campaign has been leveled by a rape allegation, has faced unrelenting pressure to drop out by July 13, which would give the party until July 27 to choose another candidate to challenge five-term Sen. Susan Collins.

“The Platner campaign has reached out to the party to try and understand what this process would look like,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“While Graham wouldn’t want to be a part of the process, he would want to make sure the voters and volunteers make this decision — not the political establishment.”

Golden, a moderate Democrat who once worked for Sen. Susan Collins, is one of several potential names being floated in the past couple days. Golden has held the 2nd District seat, which leans Republican, since he was first elected in 2018, but said last year he would not seek reelection to the U.S. House.