Maine Democrats said they will convene on July 25 to choose a new U.S. Senate nominee to replace Graham Platner on the November ballot — but some in the party are already moving before a successor is named following the collapse of his campaign amid a rape allegation.
High-profile progressives in Congress have begun fundraising around the race, warning supporters that control of the party’s future could hinge on Maine.
“Our path to flipping the Senate runs directly through Maine. If we flip Maine, we flip the Senate,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) wrote Friday in an urgent fundraising email.
“But if Susan Collins wins, Trump gets two more years of unchecked power,” she wrote, urging her New York donor base to help raise $100,000 for a Maine “emergency fund” by midnight.
“If we don’t flip this seat, our hopes of flipping the Senate are crushed,” added Gillibrand, who leads the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
The early push for cash also gives Maine Democrats a chance to build a campaign reserve before settling on a new nominee — one who may face challenges energizing voters.
Several of the contenders seeking to replace Platner, who is exiting the race after a woman publicly alleged this week that he drunkenly raped her in 2021, have recent electoral losses on their records.
The most prominent names being discussed are Democrats who lost in the party’s Maine gubernatorial primary just last month.
Former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nariv Shah, came in second in that race, while Maine fifth-generation logger, Bernie Sanders-backed Troy Jackson, was third and Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows got fourth place.
In addition to losing in the governor primary, Bellows, 51, also lost badly to Susan Collins — the Republican nominee she’ll face off against if the party picks her.
In that Maine Senate back in 2014, Collins got 68% of the vote, more than doubling Bellows who got 32%.
And if Maine voters are ready for a drink after the Nazi and assault allegations, one contender who hasn’t just lost a race is Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleban.
“I’ve spent years talking to Mainers over a beer in our taproom,” Kleban wrote on his Substack Wednesday announcing his run.
State and local officials have until a July 27 deadline to choose a replacement for Platner.
