By Nolan D. McCaskill and Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, July 8 (Reuters) – Embattled U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner faced mounting pressure to drop out of the race on Wednesday, as Maine’s Democratic Party said he would not be able to pick his replacement.
Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson said the party has repeatedly told Platner’s campaign he needs to drop out of the race after being accused of sexual assault so they can select another candidate to take on Republican Senator Susan Collins in the November midterm elections.
“The integrity of this process is just as important as the outcome,” Murphy-Anderson said in a video posted on Tuesday night. “Unfortunately, Graham Platner’s team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like.”
Platner’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Platner has denied wrongdoing but said on Monday he would take time “to reflect on the best path forward.” He has made no public comments since then.
Platner also was accused on Tuesday by a former romantic partner of removing condoms without consent during sex, which his campaign denied. In addition, Platner has faced criticism for controversial online comments, a Nazi-linked tattoo that he had covered up, and sexually explicit texts to women outside of his marriage.
His most prominent supporters, including Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, have urged him to drop out, and Senate Democratic leaders have said they will not spend money on the race if Platner is on the ballot.
With the race in a holding pattern, fissures have emerged among the left-wing groups that have helped insurgent candidates like Platner defeat more experienced, mainstream Democrats in a series of primary races this year.
“For us, it really confirms the importance of vetting candidates through some kind of collective process,” Ashik Siddique, co-chair of Democratic Socialists of America, said in a swipe at the Sanders-aligned consultants who recruited Platner last year.
Platner has until July 13 to withdraw from the race, at which point the state party would have until July 27 to select another nominee to challenge Collins, a moderate Republican who has held the seat since 1997.
Some Democrats began jockeying to succeed Platner on Tuesday.
Winning Maine is critical to Democratic hopes of retaking control of the Senate from President Donald Trump’s party. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority. Losing Maine would not make winning the Senate impossible for Democrats, but it would become significantly harder.
(Reporting by Nolan D. McCaskill and Richard Cowan; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Will Duham)
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