With Graham Platner's exit from Senate race looming, Democrats line up to replace him

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Watch: Graham Platner announces he’s dropping out of Maine’s US Senate race

With the looming withdrawal of beleaguered Democratic candidate Graham Platner from Maine’s Senate election, the race is already on for who will take his place on the ballot.

After Platner suspended his campaign in the wake of misconduct allegations, several other left-wing candidates and a few moderates threw their hats in the ring.

Maine’s Democrats plan to hold a convention to find a contender for taking on Republican Senator Susan Collins in November’s congressional elections. They face a 13 July deadline for Platner to withdraw, followed by 27 July to name a replacement.

The race is seen as pivotal to Democrats’ longshot bid to win control of the US Senate in November’s midterm elections.

Platner’s disastrous candidacy exposes rifts that could dampen Democrats’ Senate hopes

Nationally, too, the midterms look like an uphill battle for Democrats to win a majority in the upper chamber of Congress, where they hope to put checks on President Donald Trump’s power.

Along with unseating Collins – the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate – Democrats must hold on to all their existing seats and then gain three more.

Platner won over Democrats in Maine’s recent primary with an outsider persona and populist views, but he was dogged duriung his run by misconduct allegations, which he denied.

Now candidates to replace him are walking a fine line between aligning with the policies that he successfully ran on while proving they can take on Collins and her formidable operation.

Over the last few days, hopefuls have made their ambitions known, even before Platner announced his campaign suspension.

Public health expert Nirav Shah, who came in a close second while seeking the party’s nomination for Maine governor earlier this year, announced he would stand, as did former state senator Troy Jackson, a former logger.

Jackson also campaigned for governor, often appearing alongside Platner at campaign events, as well as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, one of Platner’s most vocal left-wing supporters. But Jackson came in a distant third.

In a statement posted to social media, Shah said “our number one priority must be defeating Susan Collins” and called for a “transparent and open” selection process that would include at least one televised debate and multiple town halls.

Image source, Getty Images

Troy Jackson (right) frequently campaigned with Platner (left)

Jordan Wood, who ran for a US House seat in Maine earlier this year, has now switched to the Senate race. A former staff member in the House, Wood has pledged to run a grassroots-funded campaign and that he wouldn’t take contributions from corporate donors or lobbyists.

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows officially launched her Senate bid on Thursday, pledging on social media to unify Democrats in Maine and “forge ahead with a campaign that fights for working people, stands up to a broken system that’s working against us, and defeats Susan Collins”.

Bellows took Collins on in 2014, and lost, and was also in the crowded primary field for Maine governor this year.

Image source, Getty Images

Shenna Bellows ran against Collins in 2014

Dan Kleban, founder of the Maine Beer Company who had suspended his initial Senate bid last year, announced on Wednesday that he was back in the running ahead of Platner’s announcement.

“I’m not a career politician. I spent the last 20 years building a small business that started at my kitchen table and now employs over 100 Mainers,” he said on Thursday.

It’s unclear if Maine Governor Janet Mills, who suspended her Democratic primary campaign after Platner’s run gained momentum, will reenter the race. She had the backing of Democrats in the US Senate and was viewed as an establishment candidate.

Meanwhile, television actor Patrick Dempsey, who starred in the US medical drama series Grey’s Anatomy, shut down the buzz around his potential run in a newspaper opinion piece, saying that he can contribute more effectively to public service through the life he has already built.

Local media reported that Platner had encouraged one of his supporters – state legislator Valli Geiger – to run but had not made an endorsement.

Image source, Getty Images

Jordan Wood failed to secure the Democratic nomination for a Maine House seat this year

There is one potential obstacle for all those running the race. Platner said in an 11-minute video announcing the suspension of his campaign that he would formally withdraw once he was confident that the state party would run an open and transparent selection process.

He has yet to do so, with 13 July now only a few days away.

While Maine Democrats are moving ahead with plans to hold a nominating convention with reportedly 600 delegates, they still face a tight timeline of four months to select and then rally voters’ support for Platner’s replacement.

“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 Platners’s campaign,” the party said in a statement after Platner suspended his campaign.

“We look forward to coming together and harnessing that energy around our new nominee as we work to defeat Susan Collins in November,” the statement said.

Additional reporting by Kayla Epstein

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