Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) told members of his campaign team that he expects to officially end his Senate bid on Monday by filing the documents needed to take his name off the ballot.
Platner is officially running out of time to get out of the race as sources told Axios that during a private call Wednesday night, Platner told his staff he’ll file the paperwork to withdraw on Monday. That matters because Monday at 5:00 p.m. is the deadline for a candidate to officially drop out under state law. If he doesn’t hit that deadline, Democrats can’t replace him on the ballot.
The Deputy Secretary of State confirmed that a public announcement doesn’t count. Until Platner physically signs and submits that paperwork, he is still technically in the running.
People close to Platner say he is going through with it, others say there’s still a lingering fear he might change his mind at the last second.
Meanwhile, the party is already fighting over who takes his place. The Maine Democrat Party has made it clear Platner won’t have a say in choosing the next nominee, and they’ve already set up a convention to pick a replacement the second that seat officially opens up.
It was reported that Platner made those comments right before he publicly announced he was suspending his campaign.
“My name might be on the ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine,” he wrote on X.
“As many of you know, over the past couple days, I have faced some very serious allegations,” he said. “I just want to make it clear: this is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It’s not real.”