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Politico: Graham Platner Denies Sexual Assault Allegations: 'Troubling, Serious, and False'

Brett T.
Brett T.  |  4:20 PM on July 06, 2026

So this is what Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner was trying to get ahead of by cancelling a town hall last night and two scheduled for this evening. Platner's campaign schedule cleared out in a hurry, and it appears to be connected to new allegations of sexual assault reported on Monday afternoon by Politico.

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Jenny Racicot, a Democrat, says she withheld her story because she didn't want to be known as a "rape victim," but "felt compelled to go public about her experience because the reaction to the [New York] Times story was dominated by controversy about another woman, Lyndsey Fifield, who alleged Platner mistreated her and faced attacks because of her ties to the Republican Party."

Jessica Piper and Adam Wren report for Politico:

A woman who dated Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner says he forced her to have sex with him nearly five years ago despite her repeated objections, an allegation Platner denies.

The woman, a 41-year-old Maine resident named Jenny Racicot, detailed the alleged incident to POLITICO in three interviews over the past two weeks. POLITICO also spoke with a man Racicot dated and confided in the years after the alleged incident, and reviewed documents, including 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 said she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner, who is now the Democratic Senate nominee in Maine, for more than 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. She said she cut off contact with him after telling him the encounter was not consensual.

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People have been anticipating more dirt to come out against Platner, and here it is.

Platner already has his defenders in Politico's replies, saying, "Don't come forward 5 years later and expect sympathy."

Sen. Elizabeth Warren told us enthusiastically that Platner was her kind of man.

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For his part, Platner has called the allegation "troubling, serious, and false" in a statement.

The "Believe Women" crowd is out in force:

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A woman comes forward with this story, and this is how she's treated. No wonder women don't go public immediately.

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