Andrew Perez at Zeteo:

A woman who dated Graham Platner accused Maine’s Democratic Senate nominee of sexual assault on Monday. “One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,” Jenny Racicot told Politico. “I just want the truth out there. I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person.” Racicot, 41, told the outlet that Platner came to her house uninvited in 2021, “almost blackout drunk,” and forced himself on her. Politico wrote that it reviewed correspondence between Racicot and her therapist, and spoke with a man whom she had confided in about the incident. The candidate denies the allegations.

The news arrived in Politico after Platner abruptly canceled a series of events in recent days. He did not campaign over the July 4 holiday weekend, and postponed a town hall set for Sunday in Augusta. His town halls scheduled for Monday were postponed as well. “From my understanding, he is not feeling well,” an organizer with Gorham Democrats said in a Facebook video on Monday. The latest allegations will certainly fuel calls for Platner to voluntarily withdraw his name from the ballot, in order to preserve Democrats’ ability to compete against incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins. The deadline for Platner to do so is next Monday, July 13. If he were to exit, Maine Democratic Party officials would need to choose a new candidate by July 27.

While Platner called the allegations “false” in a video, he added, “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.”

Voters in Maine nominated Platner, a Marine combat veteran and oyster farmer, as their Democratic Senate candidate on June 9, despite a series of scandals that might typically end one’s campaign. Among them: Platner, for years, had a Nazi-style, skull-and-crossbones tattoo; he got it covered up in October, and denied he knew its meaning. He made misogynist posts on Reddit over the years, including one in which he said that rape victims should “take some responsibility for themselves and not get so messed up they wind up having sex with someone they don’t mean to.” As the primary election neared, news broke that Platner sexted several women after he was married. Just days before the primary, the New York Times reported on allegations by a right-wing operative, Lyndsey Fifield, about how, when they dated between 2013-15, Platner had been physically intimidating with her at times, as well as toxic and crude overall.

Maine Democratic US Senate nominee Graham Platner faces a fresh and potent accusation of sexual assault. Should he drop out, Democrats will need a new candidate to face off against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME).

Time for Platner to drop out!

See Also:

The Guardian: Calls grow for Graham Platner to drop out after sexual assault allegation

Daily Kos: Graham Platner’s campaign is falling apart

could have taken this in the

fourteenth century.

Her first book, The Mysterious Affair At Styles, used her pharmacy knowledge. Her favorite review of the book was from an industry journal.

"After they overheard that ICE was at the courthouse to arrest someone, they improperly accessed court databases to determine who was not born in the United States," a DOJ detention filing says. "They then snuck every suspected illegal alien who was at the courthouse out a back door, where ICE, who was waiting in the parking lot for their target to leave the building, could not see them."

A couple I was helping earlier had two little ones, three and six, who were behaving in a rather saintly fashion for the average bored kid I see. I tried to engage them with remotes and things while their parents talked.

Eventually they were restless enough that I pulled out notepads and asked if they wanted to draw. The three year old quickly lost interest and I went over to ask her favorite animal. She told me “elephant” so to delight and amaze her I started drawing an elephant. Usually kids are into it.

When I was done she pronounced, “It looks like a giraffe.”

I staggered back melodramatically but actually laughing hysterically and said, “There goes my art degree!”

The parents laughed and said kids were harsh critics. When they checked out they saw my elephant doodle on the desk and both did a double take like, “Woah, that’s a really good elephant!”