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Graham Platner formally drops out of Maine Senate race

▶ Watch Video: Maine Senate candidate on push to unseat Susan Collins, Platner replacement process

Graham Platner has formally filed the paperwork to suspend his campaign for U.S. Senate in Maine, with little time to go before the deadline. 

The Maine Secretary of State’s Office confirmed receipt of Platner’s official withdrawal on Friday. 

“Because the candidate officially withdrew before 5 p.m. of the 2nd Monday in July (July 13, 2026), his name will not appear on the ballot, and his political party may replace him,” the office said in a statement, noting that the deadline for the party to name a replacement candidate is July 27. 

In his letter to the Maine secretary of state, which Platner posted to X on Friday, he wrote that he was formally withdrawing his candidacy for U.S. Senate. 

“My name may have been on the ballot, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine. As such, please consider this notice as my official withdrawal from consideration for this office,” he wrote.

Platner announced the suspension of his campaign in an 11-minute social media video on Wednesday, after a woman accused him of sexual assault and the Democrats who supported him said he should step aside. 

He vehemently denied the sexual assault allegations, calling them “false” and “not real,” but said the pressure from state-level and national Democrats had made it impossible for his campaign to continue. He blamed the “political establishment” for the situation.

Platner’s 11th-hour exit from the race has prompted hurried efforts from Democrats looking to replace him. The Maine Democratic Party has until July 27 at 5 p.m. to select a replacement. The party said it would hold a nominating convention. 

“Maine Statute does not address how a replacement candidate may be chosen by a party, only that the candidate filling the vacancy must be a ‘qualified person,'” the Maine Secretary of State’s Office said in its statement. “Announcements about how a replacement candidate will be chosen or when that candidate will be announced will come from the political party.”

The Senate race in Maine is one of the most closely watched races of this cycle, as Democrats seek to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a contest that could determine control of the Senate.

Platner had urged the Maine Democratic Party to use an “open, transparent and democratic” process to replace him, and said the decision shouldn’t be made by “party apparatchiks.”

A Maine woman, Jenny Racicot, told Politico and CNN that Platner entered her home without permission in late 2021 when he was drunk and forced himself on her, ignoring her demands for him to stop. Racicot said the two met on a dating app in 2019 and had a casual, consensual relationship before the night of the alleged assault.

Racicot told CNN’s Jake Tapper that Platner, “by dictionary definition, raped me.”

“He violated multiple layers of consent that night. By coming into my home when I asked him not to, and by advancing on me when I told him not to, and furthermore, another incident that I had told him not to do,” Racicot said, referring to his alleged refusal to use protection.

She said: “In that moment, I evaluated my safety. … I basically felt safest just complying.”

Platner called the allegations “categorically false” in a video shortly after Politico broke the story Monday, before Racicot’s CNN interview. In a statement, his campaign called the allegations “desperate smears” that were “coached and coordinated by out of state establishment operatives.”

In his video announcing the end of his campaign, Platner said he learned about the allegations through press inquiries “with no time to truly respond, no time for investigations before a corporate media system and the political establishment got to act as judge, jury and executioner.”

“Accusations are supposed to be the beginning of things, not the end,” he said. 

“This was the last week to try to get me off of the ballot, and that’s why this is occurring,” he added.

The allegations led the Maine Democratic Party, along with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who chairs Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, to call on Platner to withdraw earlier this week. The DSCC said it would not invest in the race if Platner remained on the ballot, and the Senate Majority PAC said in light of the allegations, it was redirecting resources away from the Maine Senate race, severely limiting his campaign’s viability going forward. 

And a number of Platner’s highest-profile supporters in Congress — like Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California and Sen. Ruben Gallego of Arizona — also took back their endorsements shortly after the story became public.

On Tuesday, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said he spoke with Platner and “recommended that he step aside.” The statement carried significant weight, with Sanders having been a key supporter of Platner’s.

Potentially historic El Nino takes shape, with far-reaching US and global impacts expected

Typical El Nino impacts in winter months. (ABC News)(NEW YORK) -- El Nino conditions continue to intensify and are likely to be very strong, resulting in a potentially historic event in the coming months that could significantly influence our weather, the hurricane season and global temperatures, according to the latest forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).The agency is now highly confident there will be a very strong El Nino during the upcoming Northern Hemisphere fall and winter seasons.NOAA's latest forecast says that between October and December, there is a 69% chance of a historic event that would exceed the strength of all previous El Nino events on record, dating back to 1950. The current event ranks as the second strongest on record for this time of the year, behind 1997."Our team has become more confident in the possibility of a very strong El Nino by the end of this year," Michelle L'Heureux, a physical scientist at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center, told ABC News."There is a greater than 90% chance of a 'very strong' El Nino, which is the highest chance to date, and expresses our confidence in the growth and development of a potentially historic El Nino event," L'Heureux added.NOAA noted that with an event of this magnitude, while the chances of experiencing impacts consistent with El Nino are greater, they are not guaranteed.El Nino refers to the warmer-than-average phase of the El Nino--Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a natural cycle where sea surface temperatures across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean rise and fall. The cooler-than-average phase is called La Nina, while near-average conditions are known as ENSO-neutral.NOAA ranks the strength of El Nino events by measuring the sea surface temperature departure from average (anomaly) across this region, classifying events as weak, moderate, strong or very strong.While adjectives such as "super" and "extreme" are popular ways of describing the strength of an El Nino event on social media, NOAA and the WMO classify the strength as weak to moderate, strong and very strong. The WMO noted in a recent statement that "the term [[super]] is not part of standardized operational classifications."Typical El Nino impacts across the United StatesImpacts from El Nino, similar to La Nina, tend to be most consistent and pronounced from late autumn through early spring following the event's onset, NOAA said. There is usually a delay between the onset of the event and many of the associated effects.Experts caution that the impacts on weather patterns are nuanced. Each season is different, and typical El Nino conditions don't always materialize."The data is very clear that we can be more confident in certain impacts occurring during strong and very strong El Nino, but it is really important to emphasize that even if this ends up being a historic El Nino, there will be impacts in some locations that do not align with the expected El Nino impact," L'Heureux added. "This is why our seasonal forecasts are expressed in terms of probabilities."Northeast: Typically, during El Nino, warmer-than-average temperatures are favored across the northern half of the United States during the winter months. However, its influence is less pronounced in the Northeast, compared to the Upper Midwest and Northwest.El Nino typically increases the odds of above-average snowfall in the mid-Atlantic and coastal areas of the Northeast as storms often move up the coast. Farther inland, drier-than-average conditions and less snow are more likely.South: Near- to below-average temperatures are favored along the southern tier of the U.S., especially from Texas to the Southeast.For precipitation, wetter-than-average conditions are typically observed along the southern tier of the U.S., including parts of the Gulf Coast and Southeast. Below-average precipitation is frequently observed across parts of the south-central Mississippi Valley.Midwest: Warmer-than-average temperatures are favored from the northern Plains into the Great Lakes. Drier-than-average conditions are frequently observed across parts of the Ohio Valley and Great Lakes regions.El Nino typically increases the odds of above-average snowfall in the south-central Plains, with below-average snowfall favored in the northern Plains and Great Lakes regions.West: During the winter months, warmer-than-average temperatures are likely across much of the Northwest. For precipitation, wetter-than-average conditions are typically observed across southern California and much of the Southwest, with below-average precipitation frequently observed across parts of the northern Rockies.El Nino typically increases the odds of above-average snowfall in the southern Rockies, with below-average snowfall favored in the northern Rockies.Meanwhile, above-average tropical activity in the eastern Pacific increases the likelihood of indirect impacts to the southwestern United States, such as sending more rain to the region and more frequent flash flood concerns.Alaska: El Nino impacts in Alaska tend to be more pronounced than across much of the contiguous United States, with the strongest effects typically occurring during the winter and spring months. During winter, warmer- and drier-than-average conditions are more likely, with less snowfall and reduced snowpack.Above average temperatures often persist into spring, while precipitation trends closer to average. However, warmer conditions typically mean more precipitation falls as rain rather than snow, prolonging snow deficits.Hawaii: Rainfall is typically above average across Hawaii the year an El Nino event develops before conditions become drier during the winter months and remain dry well into the following year. The shift toward drier weather can increase the likelihood of drought and elevate the risk of wildfires.Meanwhile, above-average tropical activity in the eastern Pacific increases the risk of impacts from tropical systems across the Hawaiian Islands.How El Nino influences hurricane season activityWhile El Nino is only one of several key factors that influence tropical activity, forecasts now indicate it will be a strong event through the peak of the hurricane season, making it the primary driver of activity in both the Atlantic and eastern Pacific in the coming months.El Nino conditions often suppress tropical activity during the Atlantic hurricane season by producing unfavorable atmospheric winds. In the Eastern Pacific, the opposite occurs, with favorable conditions supporting above-average hurricane season activity.Other factors, such as sea surface temperatures, also play an important role in tropical cyclone development and strength. Unseasonably warm ocean waters can partially offset the effects of unfavorable atmospheric winds, according to forecasters.Global temperature records will likely be challenged2024 ranked as the planet's warmest year on record, following the last El Nino event, which emerged in mid-2023 and persisted through spring 2024, according to NOAA. However, the return of El Nino means global temperature records will likely be challenged again in the near future, especially since a very strong event is unfolding.Record highs in global average temperature often occur during El Nino years, combined with the long-term global warming trend driven primarily by human-caused greenhouse gas emissions."Warmer ocean temperatures associated with El Nino, together with its tendency to favor warmer conditions in many areas, often contribute to warmer than normal global annual temperatures," Jon Gottschalck, chief of the Operational Prediction Branch at NOAA's Climate Prediction Center said.According to the latest outlook from NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information, it's virtually certain that 2026 will rank among the five warmest years on record, with a 99.9% chance.However, the probability of it becoming the warmest year currently stands at less than 1%. These odds will likely rise significantly for 2027, based on the latest forecasts.There is usually a delay between the onset of El Nino and its peak impact on global temperatures, NOAA says. As with the most recent event, its greatest influence often occurs in the months after it peaks, which can keep global temperatures elevated into the following year.Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
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