Here's How Graham Platner's Potential Last Senate Campaign Hurrah Could Be Schumer's Undoing

A lot has happened over the last few days with Graham Platner's Senate campaign, and I think it's safe to say that the walls are finally closing in on the guy who had amassed quite the following of rabid apologists as the number of scandals increased over the course of roughly nine months.

As RedState reported, many of those apologists have now officially abandoned the sinking ship because the embarrassment has gotten too intense. Among them are many in the mainstream media and, of course, formerly staunch congressional supporters like Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17) and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), all of whom seemingly are suddenly willing to take abuse allegations from women seriously as long as the woman is a Democrat.

Establishment Democrats, on the other hand, have to be elated at the news Platner may be exiting stage left, with conventional wisdom being that having pretty much anyone else as their nominee in the race would be better than Platner, who in some polls in recent weeks had fallen to second place behind Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

Shades of 2024: Are Democrats Trying to 'Biden' Graham Platner?

But though establishment Dems do indeed appear to be in the process of "Bidening" Platner at the 11th hour, something we first suggested in late May might already be in progress, the Platner campaign has been unwilling to play along. As RedState also documented, campaign officials have reached out to the Maine Democrat Party (MDP) to, as the MDP describes it, "put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like," demanding assurances that a replacement nominee would be one whom Platner would approve.

And now, the infighting among the MDP and the Platner campaign has been taken to another level, with Platner's campaign manager, Ben Chin, accusing the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) of swooping in to try to work with the MDP to handpick their preferred candidate without the input of Platner and his supporters:

We’ve said from the very beginning that this campaign was never about Graham but about a movement of working people united to take back power.
But yesterday, the Maine Democratic Party said that our movement will “have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like.” Instead, under their watch and direction, they allowed the DC-based Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to send staffers to plan a potential nominating process behind closed doors. Both the state and national parties cut our team, our volunteers, and our vast networks of supporters out of the conversation completely.
We firmly believe that the supporters and volunteers who built this movement deserve to have a real role in any nomination process. If the Maine Democratic Party hopes to harness our movement, and avoid disillusioning the hundreds of thousands of supporters who came into the fray because of our movement’s policies, it must consult the feedback and proposals of the people who built and sustained this.
Your feedback will be sent to the Maine Democratic Party via this form

Another source passed on a text from the campaign; I'll just post text so I don't share link.

This is Ben Chin, Graham Platner’s campaign manager.

We’ve said from the very beginning that this campaign was never about Graham but about a movement of working people united to take… https://t.co/OrerHrgYeF
— David Weigel (@daveweigel) July 8, 2026

The MDP, on the other hand, has clapped back at Platner's handlers by claiming they are working on a process where Platner's supporters can have a role in who the nominee potentially will be:

“While the Platner campaign remains focused on distracting from the job of defeating Susan Collins in November with false accusations against us, the Maine Democratic Party remains hyper focused on developing a representative, transparent and inclusive process to select a new nominee when he chooses to withdraw from the race. While we may be frustrated with Graham Platner’s continued efforts to manipulate this process, we are so thankful for his supporters and all of their efforts to defeat Susan Collins – they are a vital part of our Party and deserve to participate in an open process to select Platner’s replacement.” - Devon Murphy-Anderson, Executive Director of the MDP

The problem here is that the Platner campaign has already planted the seeds of doubt that no matter how this process plays out, Platner and his supporters will not get the candidate of their choosing because the establishment is bulldozing its way in to set the stage in a way they think benefits the party - and Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) - the most.

And they have a point to some extent. Platner, after all, was the guy they chose as their nominee, and many are still fervent true believers despite all that has come out, including the sexual assault allegation. Even just a tiny percentage of these voters deciding to sit out the fall election in protest of the way all of this was handled - essentially forcing him out and trying to muscle in a replacement candidate the masses may have little to no say in - could hurt not just the replacement nominee but also the Democrats' hopes of taking back the Senate if the race is close.

Further, if Platner does drop out, Democrat voters in Maine will understand that this is the second time in two years that a nominee picked by primary voters was pushed to the side in favor of an establishment pick that they feel would presumably put them in a better position to win.

But that didn't work so well for them in 2024. Assuming Platner does step aside, it remains to be seen how this will work out for them the second time around. It will be very interesting to see how all of this ultimately plays out.

As always, buckle up and stay tuned.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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