As Graham Platner\u2019s campaign for Senate teetered on a precipice on Tuesday, progressive-minded voters in Maine grappled with the possible end of a cherished dream: that an untested populist oysterman from Downeast would beat the odds to represent them in Washington.<\/p>\n
Grief and disappointment prevailed up and down the Maine coast after the news on Monday that a former girlfriend of Mr. Platner\u2019s had accused him of sexual assault. Amid increasing calls for him to abandon his bid to unseat Senator Susan Collins, a Republican who has held the seat since 1997, Mr. Platner said he would take time to mull his next steps.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re sad and disheartened, because we had so much believed in his message,\u201d said Paul Begin, 75, of Cape Elizabeth. \u201cWe thought we had a chance to give power back to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of nearly two dozen Democrats interviewed in the state on Tuesday, most said they expected Mr. Platner to drop out of the race; most said it was the right course. \u201cHis ideas were great, but he has way too much baggage now,\u201d said John Murray, 80, a retired mail carrier from Saco.<\/p>\n
But several, including Mr. Murray, said they would probably stick with Mr. Platner, 41, if he opted to remain on the ballot. Mr. Platner has called the sexual assault allegation \u201cfalse\u201d; the deadline for him to formally withdraw from the race is Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d vote for a swamp frog \u2014 anyone \u2014 to defeat Susan Collins,\u201d Mr. Murray said.<\/p>\n
The high-profile race, considered critical to Democrats\u2019 efforts to take control of the Senate, has been roiled by a series of concerning revelations about Mr. Platner, an Iraq War veteran who served several combat tours and has not previously held elected office. Several shoppers at a busy Trader Joe\u2019s in Portland, the state\u2019s largest city, said they had worried about the candidate\u2019s past since last fall, when it was revealed that he had a tattoo, dating to his time at war, that resembled a Nazi symbol.<\/p>\n
Yet even after other problematic aspects of Mr. Platner\u2019s background came to light, including past comments he had posted online about victims of sexual assault, and allegations by several women of past abusive conduct, many Democrats had continued to stand by him. They cited his readiness to acknowledge past struggles with his mental health, apologize for his transgressions and detail his evolution into a better person.<\/p>\n
Julianne Harris, 36, of Stonington, a registered Democrat and a painter who also works in communications, said she, too, was trying to assess whether Mr. Platner\u2019s campaign could survive the latest allegations \u2014 and, if it did, whether she could still stick by him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI voted for Platner enthusiastically in the primary and that was exciting,\u201d she said, drinking coffee as she worked on her laptop at a cafe near the harbor. \u201cI was hopeful at the outset. Now I\u2019m disappointed.\u201d<\/p>\n
With Mr. Platner\u2019s campaign seemingly doomed, Ms. Harris said she was worried about a new candidate stepping in late, \u201cthe momentum being lost,\u201d and the possibility that the last-minute upheaval would cost Democrats the election in November. Ms. Collins, a moderate, has generally been seen as the most vulnerable Republican incumbent in the Senate.<\/p>\n
To some, including Linda Page, 71, a retiree from Alfred who is married to a Vietnam War veteran, it had felt deeply important to allow Mr. Platner to make the case that he had changed and grown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like to give a person a second chance, especially a veteran who has tried to turn his life around,\u201d she said outside the Portland supermarket. \u201cI understand how hard it is for them to come home.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Ms. Page, who voted for Mr. Platner in the primary last month, said she was struggling on Tuesday to balance her strong belief in the possibility of change with a political reality that looked increasingly grim.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very sad \u2014 I really thought we had a chance with him, but now the forces against him are too great,\u201d she said. \u201cI think he would have done a good job. And I would probably vote for him if he stayed in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Al Chambers, 72, a retired sixth grade teacher from Hamden, and an unaffiliated voter who leaned Republican until President Trump took office, said he had never been enthusiastic about Mr. Platner, but had planned to vote for him in an effort to oust Ms. Collins. He, like several others interviewed, questioned the timing of the latest allegation \u2014 \u201cWhy didn\u2019t this get reported on before?\u201d \u2014 but said that it felt like a final death knell for the campaign nonetheless.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere there\u2019s smoke there\u2019s fire,\u201d Mr. Chambers said. \u201cHe can\u2019t survive this. I don\u2019t see a path forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, many voters were practical-minded, and already considering the field of potential replacements for Mr. Platner. That group includes several Democrats who ran for governor but lost to Hannah Pingree, a former Maine House speaker, in the Democratic primary<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n Ms. Page said she would support Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state, or Troy Jackson, a former State Senate president. Both are progressive Democrats who ran for governor.<\/p>\n Mr. Jackson, a logger from rural northern Maine, was Mr. Platner\u2019s choice for governor, and the two men campaigned together; each won the endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. On Tuesday, Mr. Sanders urged<\/a> Mr. Platner to end his campaign.<\/p>\n