Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) and Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) withdrew their endorsements of Maine Democrat Senate candidate Graham Platner after a report surfaced that he allegedly broke into a woman’s home and sexually assaulted her.
“I’ve been very clear that sexual assault or violence against women is a red line,” Khanna wrote in a post on X. “These allegations are very serious and credible. Graham Platner should drop out from the race. I am withdrawing my endorsement.”
“The allegations against Graham Platner are troubling and deeply serious,” Gallego wrote in a post on X. “I am rescinding my endorsement.”
Khanna and Gallego withdrawing their endorsements came after Politico released a report that Jenny Racicot, 41, explained to the outlet that Platner — who she had been in an “on-and-off relationship” with, came into her home “uninvited one night in late 2021.” During this time, Platner was allegedly “deeply intoxicated, and forced himself on her while she repeatedly told him to stop.”
“I remember him grabbing my pelvis and being really forceful of me,” Racicot told the outlet. “I remember the specific moment where I thought to myself, like, ‘This is no longer my choice.’”
Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks at a campaign event Friday, June 5, 2026, in Bar Harbor, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Racicot was one of several women who previously spoke to the New York Times about their past relationships with Platner. She told the outlet that “in 2021 he arrived at her house drunk after she had asked him not to come over.”
Racicot also explained that his behavior was “reckless” and “unsettling.”
Another woman, Lyndsey Fifield, who was involved with Platner from 2013-2015, told the outlet that Platner “never hit” her or punched her. Fifield also shared how during one argument, Platner “twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side.”
In a post on X, Platner shared a video on Monday in which he said that “any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false.”
“I wanted to directly address the troubling, serious and false allegations against me,” Platner said. “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false.”
Platner continued: “Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting, but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward, for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to and the goal of defeating Susan Collins.”
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