Politics
Mamdani calls on Platner to drop out of Maine Senate race
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called on Graham Platner to end his campaign for Maine Senate on Tuesday, becoming one of the most prominent voices on the American left to urge the embattled candidate to step out of the race.
“I believe that it’s time for him to drop out of the race,” Mamdani told reporters at New York City Hall, adding that he believes a campaign termination is the “only appropriate response” for Platner in the wake of the latest sexual assault accusation against him.
POLITICO reported Monday that Jenny Racicot, a Maine resident, accused Platner of forcing her to have sex with him five years ago. He denied the allegation.
Asked by Blue Light News if Mamdani is concerned that the Platner campaign collapse could have broader negative implications for the left, the democratic socialist mayor said: “I think the focus of today should be on the campaign coming to a close, and I think there will be many more days to have conversations about what it means beyond that.”
Mamdani never endorsed Platner’s campaign. But several of the mayor’s top aides, including strategist Morris Katz and press secretary Joe Calvello, have played leading roles on the progressive Maine oysterman’s Senate bid.
Since his upset mayoral election last year, Mamdani has emerged as one of the most influential voices on the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Mamdani’s thumb on the scale comes after a number of other high-profile Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, have already urged Platner to drop out of the race before a Monday deadline to replace him on November’s ballot.
More than half of the Senate Democratic caucus has called for Graham Platner to drop out of the Maine Senate race, less than 24 hours after Blue Light News reported that a woman the oysterman once dated had accused him of sexual assault.
Platner called the claim “false.”
Most Democrats previously stuck by Platner even as his beleaguered campaign battled scandal after scandal in recent months. By Tuesday, the tide had turned firmly against Platner, with 31 of the Senate’s 47 Democratic senators calling for him to drop out as of early Tuesday afternoon.
The revolt included some top former allies who had previously defied calls to distance themselves from Platner. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said in a statement Tuesday that he had spoken with Platner and “in light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”
And Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Monday said that there “can be no tolerance for sexual assault,” just months after referring to the progressive outsider as “my kind of man” while stumping for him in April.
The list — according to Blue Light News’s tally of every sitting Democratic senator’s social media posts and public statements — also includes some of the party’s top leaders. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a joint statement that he should withdraw and the DSCC “will not invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.”
More than a dozen Democratic senators appeared to have not yet publicly commented on Platner, and did not immediately respond to Blue Light News’s request for comment on their stance.
It’s not just senators who are breaking with Platner. The Maine Democratic Party put out a joint statement calling for him to exit the race, and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who shares a number of top advisers with Platner but never endorsed him, also called for him to step down on Tuesday.
Platner has denied the allegations. But he said his campaign is “mindful of the political reality” and “taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love” in a video released on social media Monday, shortly after Blue Light News published its article.
Platner had not yet reached a final decision on his campaign.
Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the calls from senators for him to step aside.
The office of Maine Sen. Angus King, an independent who caucuses with Democrats and will serve with the eventual winner of the 2026 Maine Senate election, said he would not be commenting on Platner, per a longstanding policy not to comment on races involving his colleagues.
Two Democratic senators who had previously endorsed Platner, Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) condemned him and withdrew their endorsements, but did not explicitly call for him to drop out of the race in social media posts. Whitehouse’s office pointed to his Thursday statement when asked if he would demand Platner drop out, while Gallego did not immediately respond to a question on if he believed he should exit the race.
“The allegations against Graham Platner are troubling and deeply serious,” Gallego said on X. “I am rescinding my endorsement.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he told Maine Democrat Graham Platner to end his Senate bid on Tuesday, in the wake of a POLITICO report that a woman who Platner dated said he forced her to have sex with him.
“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine. In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside,” Sanders said in a statement.
Platner has denied the allegations.
It’s Sanders’ first public remarks about Platner since the Blue Light News report, and it comes after he’s stood beside Platner in the wake of other scandals. Numerous other elected Democrats and officials called on Platner to step down on Monday night.
This is a breaking news story that will be updated.
A wave of Democrats across the ideological spectrum is calling on the progressive to step aside while already circulating names to replace him…
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