Maine Democrat in marquee race accused of sexual assault

Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner has been accused of sexual assault, according to Politico on Monday.

The accuser, "a 41-year-old Maine resident named Jenny Racicot, detailed the alleged incident to POLITICO in three interviews over the past two weeks." A man Racicot dated corroborated the incident, as well as "emails between Racicot and her therapist and messages between Racicot and an acquaintance whom she warned against getting involved with Platner years before he ran for office."

Racicot has said that she knew Platner for two years "before he entered her rural Maine home uninvited one night in late 2021, deeply intoxicated, and forced himself on her while she repeatedly told him to stop." After this alleged incident, she says she told him the encounter wasn't consensual and cut contact with him.

Platner has denied the allegations against him. “These allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.”

This comes after a long series of other controversies involving Platner, an oyster farmer and veteran running against Republican Sen. Susan Collins as an outsider candidate.