Congress

Morris Katz: ‘I’m deeply disappointed’

Published

3 hours ago

July 9, 2026

One of Graham Platner’s top political advisers said he and others suggested Platner drop out of the Maine Senate race when they “became aware of the rape allegations.”

“As soon as the team became aware of the rape allegations against Graham Platner we advised he suspend his candidacy, and in the following days worked to wind down the campaign,” Democratic strategist Morris Katz wrote on X on Thursday. “Like so many of his supporters, I’m deeply disappointed.”

The social media post is Katz’s first public comment since POLITICO’s report Monday that a woman said Platner forced her to have sex with him, which he denies.

Katz also confirmed in a follow-up post that Platner plans to file the paperwork to officially terminate his campaign. The Maine Secretary of State’s office has not yet received the paperwork, according to a spokesperson. Platner has until 5 p.m. Monday to formally withdraw.

The 27-year-old Democratic strategist — who also advises New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and other progressive candidates — helped recruit Platner for his Senate bid last summer and helped produce the viral launch video that supercharged the oysterman’s campaign.

In recent days, Katz has faced scrutiny over the campaign vetting process for Platner.

Congress

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows is officially running for Senate

Published

6 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows officially launched her Senate bid to replace Graham Platner on Thursday afternoon.

“After serious consideration, I am announcing my campaign for United States Senate, because I believe that together we can unify Democrats in Maine at this difficult time, and forge ahead with a campaign that fights for working people, stands up to a broken system that’s working against us, and defeats Susan Collins,” Bellows wrote in a post on X.

Bellows, who recently lost in the Democratic primary for governor, had been widely expected to enter the race after Platner suspended his campaign. She was fielding calls about a possible bid in the days after POLITICO reported an allegation of sexual assault against him, according to one person familiar with her campaign, granted anonymity to discuss internal conversations. Platner denied the allegation.

A progressive Democrat, Bellows has built a national profile as Maine’s secretary of state, often clashing with President Donald Trump over election administration. She joins several other former gubernatorial hopefuls, including former public health official Nirav Shah and former Platner ally Troy Jackson, as official contenders for the Democratic nomination.

But the race marks Bellows’ second bid for the Senate. She challenged Collins, the Republican incumbent, in 2014 and lost — a defeat that is likely to draw fresh scrutiny as she makes her case to Maine voters this time around.

Congress

Chuck Grassley pushed for more transparency into Kash Patel’s FBI spending in May, Democrats reveal

Published

9 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked FBI Director Kash Patel to provide more details on his use of taxpayer resources in May, Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Mid.) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) revealed in a letter this week, as questions continue to swirl over Patel’s financial stewardship of the agency.

The embattled FBI director has long faced allegations that he is using the perks of his office for personal gain, after news outlets reported last year he used government jets for personal travel and surrounded his girlfriend, country music singer Alexis Wilkins, with SWAT team protection at public events.

Patel’s trip via agency jet to the Winter Olympics in Milan this February, in which he partied with the American men’s ice hockey team after they won gold, led to yet more questions.

Patel has repeatedly publicly denied that his use of government resources is inappropriate.

“This abuse obviously comes at the expense of the American taxpayer and ongoing Bureau operations as it ties up Bureau aircraft, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams, and agents in ways so outrageous that even congressional Republicans can no longer ignore them,” Durbin and Raskin wrote in their letter.

In a letter from Grassley sent in May, which was viewed by Blue Light News, he asked Patel to “provide a list of each flight you took on an FBI aircraft, including the departure and destination,” as well as the cost of each. He also asked Patel to explain why the bureau purchased BMWs rather than Chevy Suburbans for personal transport — and to provide a full cost breakdown of the financial impacts of the maneuver.

Raskin and Durbin — the ranking members on the House and Senate Judiciary Committees — are seeking answers to many of the same questions highlighted by Grassley, they wrote in their letter.

The eight-term Iowa senator, who turns 93 in September, emphasized he’d previously held FBI directors under Democratic administrations to similar scrutiny.

“For decades, regardless of which political party is in the White House, I have worked to ensure that taxpayer dollars are protected from waste, fraud, and abuse,” Grassley wrote.

Grassley’s office and the FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“The American people deserve an FBI Director focused on keeping us all safe rather than jet-setting to check off personal bucket list items,” Durbin and Raskin wrote. “Congress requires a transparent accounting of how you are using Americans’ hard-earned tax dollars.”

Congress

Jordan Wood joins crowded Maine Senate race

Published

11 hours ago

July 9, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

HARPSWELL, Maine — Jordan Wood, a former Capitol Hill staffer, is the latest candidate to announce a run for the Democratic nomination in Maine’s Senate race after Graham Platner dropped out Wednesday evening.

Wood signaled his interest in running for the seat earlier this week as Democrats across the state scrambled to float their own names to replace Platner on the ballot. Now, he’s making it official.

“This has been a tough week for all of us in Maine who have demanded real change in Washington and in our lives,” he said in a statement on Thursday. “Our campaign will continue to build on the powerful populist movement Graham started, and I welcome every Mainer who believed in his vision to continue to build that better world.”

This is Wood’s second go at a Senate bid this cycle. Late last year, he ended his nascent Senate bid to run in the Democratic primary for the battleground House seat being vacated by Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine). He finished a close third in that contest.

Several of the announced candidates, including former public health official Nirav Shah and former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, are maneuvering to cement themselves as the standard-bearer of Platner’s progressive outsider mantle. That may prove a harder task for Wood, who faces an uphill battle to reintroduce himself to voters and distance himself from his time working in Washington.

He’s already trying to shed that D.C. connection: “I’ve got a message for Chuck Schumer and the DSCC: Maine doesn’t need Washington insiders picking our senator. That’s a decision for the people of Maine,” he said.