ME-SEN: Who Might Replace Platner if He Drops Out? Here's What Could Happen.

[RandySF]

Top Maine Democratic Party officials have discussed possible plans to replace Mr. Platner on the ballot, with options including a pop-up convention on the weekend of July 25 to choose a nominee, or holding a statewide caucus to effectively redo the party’s primary election, according to two people who have talked with the officials and spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal party conversations.

Officials have ruled out having the state party’s committee, which includes about 100 members, choose the nominee, the people said......

Should Mr. Platner withdraw by next Monday, the leading candidates to replace him could potentially include the Democrats who ran for governor and did not win the primary.

They include Ms. (Shenna) Bellows, Troy Jackson, a former president of the Maine Senate, and Nirav Shah, a former director of Maine’s public health agency. Jordan Wood, who lost a primary for a House district covering northern Maine, is also a potential candidate.







https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/us/politics/who-would-replace-graham-platner-maine.html

[Lovie777]

1. I read, on one of the sites, jeez I can't remember which one....................

that it's a fair assessment that whoever replace Platner can still win.

[pat_k]

2. I think so too! And rejecting the notion of a Dem committee pick is a VERY good thing.

[Jack Valentino]

36. So Pat, please explain why you think THAT is a 'very good thing'---

Weren't those committee members elected by Maine Democrats somehow?
or does it not work that way in Maine?

If they WERE elected to their committee seats,
seems to me that a choice by them would at least have some validity
as coming from a representative body--- ?

Anyway, please explain your opinion since I don't understand it at all...

[pat_k]

37. I think it is a far better thing to have someone nominated in an open process involving voters.

If someone is selected by committee, there will be people who feel "the party" is forcing someone one them.

If it is caucuses or a convention, the process is more open.

[RandySF]

4. Platner was never the only person who could win.

[QueerDuck]

46. I agree. Is anointment was a bit hasty, however.

As we now see.

[Ars Longa]

10. Has Costello been mentioned??

[Ritabert]

3. Has anybody asked Stephen King? He's a resister

Has anybody asked Stephen King? He's a good resister.

[eShirl]

18. We would, if he won, then have two Senator Kings.

[Ritabert]

52. Sounds good to me.

[Jersey Devil]

5. I think it should be as democratic as possible and include as many

people making the selection as they can arrange for. They should avoid a situation where it looks like only insiders are making the selection as was the case with the national Dems in selecting Harris to replace Biden, which I think hurt Harris.

[LisaL]

9. There is no time to be as democratic as possible anymore.

He has a week to drop out, then they have to nominate somebody quickly.

[Bluestocking]

6. Platner withdraws and the Republicans keep this seat

For another 6 years.

[RandySF]

7. No

[W_HAMILTON]

25. So all those Platner supporters that said ousting Susan Collins was the most important thing were lying?

[dlk]

8. The Senate is no place for a political novice

Who would ever think that is a good idea, under any circumstances?

It makes about as much sense as an entry level worker applying to be ceo.

[MichMan]

22. Agreed. Platner had never held any elected office

[Jack Valentino]

38. Sometimes the novice is the FIRST to have ENOUGH GUTS

to challenge the 'concerned senator[---

So Platner got in first, and built his own movement in Maine---
while Gov. Mills had to be dragged in kicking and screaming
(very quietly, because she's old), but came too late in the primary campaign...


Donald Trump, through his two presumed victories in presidential elections,
has made it quite clear, and was presumably validated by the voters
that "previous experience in public office"
is no longer a valid requirement for a candidate for ANY office whatsoever!

Yeah, one could mention that one candidate or another
"has no previous experience in office",
but that argument is "lost in the noise" if they are out working the campaign trail...


(There may have been some other Democrats on the Maine primary ballot,
but I didn't hear enough about them to have any idea now who they were,
other than Janet Mills, of course..)

[stopdiggin]

28. haven't you noticed? 'political novice' is all the current rage!

Practically 'obligatory' according to a lot of voices that we're hearing from .. ? Yes ?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[dlk]

29. I'm so over the bro culture

Swagger does not equal competence.

[Katinfl]

53. Just as the WH is no place for a political novice. Yet here we are.......twice no less. We all know how that turned out.

[dlk]

55. Education and experience matter

Would you book a flight with a pilot who had never flown before, or schedule open heart surgery with someone who had never attended medical school?

We need qualified leadership in Washington, as well.

[Katinfl]

58. My point exactly.

[BannonsLiver]

11. So it sounds like Mills then.

[Fiendish Thingy]

12. Wasn't Wood on AOC's staff?

One of AOC’s staffers was running for senate until Mills declared, then they dropped out to run for congress- was it Wood?

[RandySF]

13. ME-02 I think.

[Celerity]

16. Jordan Wood worked for Katie Porter, not AOC. He was barricaded in an office with AOC and Porter on January 6.

Wood later on worked for the Biden-Harris administration as a Special Assistant to the President.

[Captain Zero]

20. That guy sounds good to me! Jordan Wood.

He could bring some unique fire with what happened on January 6. And youth.

[Celerity]

21. He was my original pick for the Dem US Senate nominee before he dropped out and ran for ME-02 instead

[Renew Deal]

39. Caucus is the best option

It leaves the choice with the voters. Also, removing direct election of senators is what many republicans want.

[Fiendish Thingy]

35. I like him already

Sounds like a solid choice for a replacement candidate

[Boo1]

14. Have a caucus

Or just tally up planters ranked choice and pick the next winner.

[duckworth969]

15. Platner's constituents and his staff decide his next step

Not DU pundits

[Cha]

42. We know that. We can Discuss , though,

on our Discussion board.

[eShirl]

17. I really like Troy Jackson and Shenna Bellows.

Don't know much about Jordan Wood or David Costello but they seem good.
I think Dr. Shah would make a great Surgeon General.

[-misanthroptimist]

19. It doesn't matter who they pick or how

That person will lose to Collins, imho. I live here in ME and from my talks that seems pretty clear to me.

[Tree Lady]

23. She is one luckily sob

So pissed stuck with her for another 6 yrs. Ugh!

[eShirl]

24. It ain't over yet. n/t

[-misanthroptimist]

26. Yes, it is

As usual, Democrats have self-annihilated

[boston bean]

31. His supporters, some to this very minute, have caused this by ignoring red flags.

Not the party. Party leaders urged Mills to run.

[-misanthroptimist]

32. So the Democratic Party belongs to the leaders?

I have to say they have a less than impressive track record at this point. We are the minority in the House, and Senate. We have a Republican President who has been convicted of 34 felonies. We have failed to stop radical right-wing Justices from being appointed to the USSC. (they stole one or two nominations from us.)

That's just the political stuff. Economically...don't get me started.

I want to see this Party and its candidates succeed. If that means bucking the leaders, so be it.

[boston bean]

33. No. But something was obviously very off with this guy.

And people, even knowing his problems wanted him. So thats what democrats got.

Here we are.

People still Attempting to justify to themselves how they could potentially support a rapist.

It is crazy.

[Celerity]

40. The Party leaders picking Mills as their favourite to run was a massive mistake. She was a large reason why we ended up

with Platner. I have said this for a long time, not just recently.

Mills was unpopular with Dem voters for reasons far beyond just her advanced age (and that was a real issue as well, as she would have been the oldest first time elected Senator in US history, 85yo at the end of her first term).

Mills is pro filibuster, she is anti-decriminalisation for small personal use amounts of drugs, she is anti red-flag laws for guns, she has vetoed collective bargaining rights (so is anti-union to a noticeable degree), vetoed a moratorium on data centers in Maine, vetoed wealth taxes, vetoed protections for renters, and vetoed some tribal sovereignty laws, etc.

Those are very unpopular stances and actions inside our Party, yet Schumer, Gillibrand, and the Maine state Dem apparatus etc, etc picked her to be leadership's chosen candidate.

[boston bean]

41. And Platners problems have existed

For some time. Yet people made excuses. Mills seems like the better choice even if there were some things that people people disagreed with. I think people need to tale a look at what they were able to over look.

[Celerity]

44. Mills did run and the Maine voters overwhelmingly choose Platner when given a choice between the 2.

The leadership discussed above should have picked a better candidate to oppose Platner.

They should have found and supported someone who did not have Mills's record of taking actions and supporting things that the vast majority of Democratic voters oppose.

The Democratic voters of Maine made that very clear in the primary. Even with Platner already mired in multiple scandals, they thoroughly rejected Mills. Mills was clearly a poor candidate when it came down to opposing Platner. Mills also polled worse, (and this is before Mills suspended her campaign) against Collins than Platner did.

I so do hope that (assuming Platner drops out, which he MUST do ASAP) the Dem Maine leadership finds someone who can still defeat the horrid Rethug Collins.

[boston bean]

45. Yeah. All the others lost to him. That's obvious.

[Celerity]

47. I so wish that leadership had gotten behind Jordan Wood this primary or had convinced Stephen King to run in 2020.

[GPV]

51. Also live in ME, district 2. Agree, she is likely to win again.

[Katinfl]

54. Doesn't sound good. We can discuss all we want, opine all we want but the decision is for ME voters.

And what you said does not sound encouraging.

[NoMoreRepugs]

27. Democrats scrambling to their kitchens to bake cookies for the coming street fight.

[gab13by13]

30. I dread to post this because I am not from Maine

and because I rail against moderate and progressive Democrats fighting among themselves, so I will post this carefully.

It seems to me that Maine is looking for #1 a fighter, and maybe #2 a progressive, but what do I know?

With that said, I support Democrats.

[Ars Longa]

34. AKA someone who can appeal to all Dem factions--plus hopefully appeal

To Susan Collin’s voters… I like to think it can be done!!

[Cha]

43. The evidence must be overwhelmingly

credible for Dems like Ro Kanna to retract their endorsements.

And, Planter to lay out his conditions for withdrawal. Why would he do that instead of another denial?

It seems to me like he's had sme serious talks with top endorsers

[Deminpenn]

48. Right now, there's no evidence, only an allegation

supported by selective email/facebook msgs, friend recollections and Ms Racicot's own description of at least one therapy session. It's not like Ms Racicot walked away from a relationship with Platner right away as she reportedly dated him on and off for 3 years (2019-2021).

But, pols don't need actual evidence to get skittish and run away especially if it looks like they might get splashed by some bad PR. This behavior is not good or bad, it just is.

Mainer's overwhelmingly voted for the ideas Platner articulated in his campaign. Why shouldn't he protect what they voted for by conditioning his withdrawal? Schumer would love to replace Platner with Mills, his preferred candidate, even though Maine's Dem primary voters soundly rejected her.

[Cha]

56. Sanders just asked Planter to "Step Aside""

For Maine to go Forward.

Like I said.. overwhelming.

[Deminpenn]

60. YMMV, but this is way more about political calculus than overwhelming evidence

Jmho, but Platner's core anti-establishment and populist message is what propelled his rise. It's not that Platner himself was especially scary, but the profound resonance of his message shook the "centrists", "moderates", "establishment" - whatever term you care to use - to it's core. That is message is the thing to be destroyed, Platner was just in the way, so he had to be destroyed, too. These women accusers were merely pawns to be sacrified in the game. No one is going to give a rat's behind about them after presumably Platner drops out.

Bernie supports everything Platner campaigned on, but he also needs to keep his credibility so he can keep fighting for his beliefs. The same with Warren. Neither can risk credibility by continuing to support Platner and that's the road each took.

[Aepps22]

49. Platner and his Handlers Let Us Down.

I am a vote blue no matter who kind of person. Platner has had multiple chances to get everything out in the open to clear the air and avoid surprises and every time he fails to do so. Much rather this happen now than in October, but none of this needed to happen. How are you a serious candidate for office and not scrub your socials, get tattoos removed, address your past comments and actions against women? Just pathetic all the way around.

[ColoringFool]

50. WHICH IS IT---"GD" FOR ANY TO OPINE? OR "REGION" FOR STATE....

RESIDENTS ONLY?

DU OUGHT PICK A LANE.

[TexLaProgressive]

57. I was worried that something like this would happen

What I think it means is another 6 years of, “I am concerned!”

[Emile]

59. For the democratic party to pull this off, it has to be Jordan Wood.

I could be wrong, but I don't look for this to happen. I look for them to pick a centrist, and lose.