Graham Platner, a populist left-wing Democrat, has withdrawn from Maine's 2026 US Senate race following a series of scandals culminating in a rape allegation from a former partner. His exit matters because he was challenging long-serving Republican Senator Susan Collins in one of a small number of contests that will decide control of the Senate in November's midterms, and Republicans are now using his downfall to attack Democrats more broadly.

Platner, a Marine Corps veteran and oyster farmer backed by progressives including Senator Bernie Sanders, ran an insurgent campaign that overcame the Democratic establishment to win the party's primary last month. His candidacy had already been dogged by controversy, including inflammatory posts on a now-deleted Reddit account, a since-covered tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, and reports of sexually explicit messages exchanged with women while married. Top Democrats only called for him to quit after Monday's rape allegation. Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters branded him a "sick monster" and said Democrats were "completely stained" by their association, with the party now seeking to tie him to candidates in other key House and Senate races.