The early jockeying to replace Graham Platner on the ballot in Maine is coming with a warning from liberals who want Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to play no part in choosing his successor.
Platner’s expected withdrawal, sparked by a bombshell report alleging sexual assault, has the Left rushing to find a replacement who embraces the same platform that voters rewarded in the Democratic primary last month, with several eyeing Troy Jackson, a former state Senate president backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT).
Front of mind for them is how Schumer fought to displace Platner, and early progressive calls for him to drop out were paired with open hostility toward Schumer’s involvement in the Maine Senate race.
Adam Green, cofounder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, wants the Maine Democratic Party to promise that Platner’s “mandate will be honored.”
“Not allow crusty insiders like Chuck Schumer an establishment do-over,” Green told the Washington Examiner.
Our Revolution, an outside group founded by Sanders, released a statement warning that the sexual assault allegations, which Platner denies, were not an invitation to coalesce around a more centrist alternative.
“To the Democratic establishment: this is not your opening,” the group stated.
The attacks come as Platner tries to steer the nomination to someone who shares his progressive worldview. An aide told the New York Times on Monday that he would consider dropping out, but only with a “guarantee” that he would be replaced by someone ideologically similar.
Our Revolution is preparing an endorsement for Jackson in the Senate race, a spokesperson told the Washington Examiner on Tuesday afternoon.
It’s at this point unlikely that Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME), Schumer’s original choice for the nomination, will be selected after her campaign floundered in the primary against Platner.
But the scandal engulfing Platner’s candidacy has invited a who’s who of Maine Democrats to float their names for the nomination, some of whom are more liberal than others.
Nirav Shah, who ran as a centrist in Maine’s governor race, confirmed Tuesday morning that he was exploring a Senate bid and called for an open process, including at least one televised debate. Under Maine law, it is up to the state Democratic Party to choose an alternative if Platner drops out by next week’s ballot deadline.
Other possible entrants include Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and Jordan Wood, who ran unsuccessfully for one of Maine’s two House seats this cycle.
As for Jackson, he filed the paperwork for a run on Tuesday and has stoked the most interest on the Left. He polled competitively against Shah and Bellows in last month’s gubernatorial primary and previously had the support of Sanders, a progressive kingmaker who broke his silence Tuesday and called on Platner to withdraw.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), another major Platner backer, appeared to endorse Jackson on Monday night. A website to “draft Troy” also appeared online by Tuesday morning.
Should Platner withdraw from the race, it’s not clear which candidate Schumer might support in his place. He’s gravitated toward Democrats with a record of performing well statewide, and party leaders fear nominating someone too far outside the mainstream in Maine, one of the top Senate battlegrounds of the 2026 cycle.
The state went for Vice President Kamala Harris by 7 points in 2024 but has rewarded Sen. Susan Collins’s (R-ME) brand of center-right politics since the 1990s.
Schumer, who steers millions in outside spending through a constellation of PACs, threatened to freeze all investments in Maine unless Platner ends his campaign, but has otherwise stayed silent on the jockeying.
The biggest name to rule out a return to the campaign trail at this point is Jared Golden, a retiring House Democrat who represents a Trump-won district in Maine.
Shah, meanwhile, has sought to elevate his profile over the last 24 hours and notably posted that he supports popular positions on the Left, including Medicare for All.
A shake-up in the Senate race would give Democrats a largely clean slate after months of negative headlines about Platner’s Nazi-linked tattoo and inflammatory social media posts. But Republicans are already laying the groundwork to associate the eventual nominee with Platner, highlighting his attempt to negotiate a replacement.
PLATNER BOMBSHELL LEAVES DEMOCRATS SCRAMBLING DAYS BEFORE MAINE BALLOT DEADLINE
“The Democrat candidate in Maine will either be an alleged rapist with a Nazi tattoo, or someone he selects with the same ‘values and vision,’” Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said in a statement.
A Platner withdrawal from the race would give Maine Democrats two weeks to choose someone else to challenge Collins this fall.