{"id":754458,"date":"2026-07-10T10:34:18","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T10:34:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/754458\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T10:34:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T10:34:18","slug":"who-will-replace-graham-platner-on-the-maine-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/754458\/","title":{"rendered":"Who will replace Graham Platner on the Maine ballot?"},"content":{"rendered":"

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) \u2014 Democrats in Maine began jockeying Thursday to become the new candidate for a pivotal U.S. Senate seat after progressive nominee Graham Platner announced he will withdraw<\/a> from the race after a sexual assault allegation.<\/a><\/p>\n

Democrats need to pick a candidate to replace Platner on the ballot<\/a> by July 27, according to state law. Whoever is selected will have less than four months before facing longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins<\/a> in the general election. Potential candidates had already been teasing their interest before Platner, who denies the allegation, announced he intends to drop out. Platner is expected to file paperwork to formally withdraw on Monday, the deadline to do so.<\/p>\n

But a growing number began formally launching their campaigns Thursday. <\/p>\n

The Maine Democratic Party has said it will hold a nominating convention to choose the replacement. The party says the convention will involve hundreds of delegates from across the state, but how and when that\u2019ll take place remains unknown. <\/p>\n

Maine is considered a key state for control<\/a> of the narrowly divided Senate, and Democrats are desperate for a candidate capable of defeating Collins while President Donald Trump is broadly unpopular.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Senate<\/p>\n

Senate President Troy Jackson speaks at a news conference, Jan. 17, 2023, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty, File)<\/p>\n

Senate President Troy Jackson speaks at a news conference, Jan. 17, 2023, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty, File)<\/p>\n

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Gov. Janet Mills, who sought the nomination during the primary campaign and suspended her campaign in late April, has not indicated if she\u2019s interested in running.<\/p>\n

These are some of the people who have shown interest in the Maine Senate race:<\/p>\n

Troy Jackson<\/p>\n

Jackson is Maine\u2019s former state Senate president. He unsuccessfully ran to be the Democratic nominee for governor earlier this year with the backing of Platner and U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Shortly after Platner said he would quit the Senate race, Jackson launched his campaign, arguing that Mainers want \u201ca progressive fighter.\u201d Our Revolution, the organization founded by Sanders, has since said it would back Jackson, 58. <\/p>\n

Jackson released a statement with dozens of endorsements, many from current and former state and local officials, on Thursday.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Nirav<\/p>\n

Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks at a news conference, April 28, 2020, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/p>\n

Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks at a news conference, April 28, 2020, in Augusta, Maine. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/p>\n

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Nirav Shah<\/p>\n

Shah, former director of Maine\u2019s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, announced Thursday he was vying to be the next Democratic Senate candidate. He came in second in this year\u2019s Maine Democratic governor\u2019s primary and was seen as more of a moderate candidate compared with Jackson while running for governor. Shah held a news conference Thursday in which he encouraged Platner supporters to join him.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have an important place in this campaign and we welcome your voices,\u201d Shah said. \u201cThis campaign represents the values that we all care about.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Dan<\/p>\n

Dan Kleban, a co-owner of the Maine Beer Company, poses in the company\u2019s tasting room in Freeport, Maine, May 7, 2015. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty, File)<\/p>\n

Dan Kleban, a co-owner of the Maine Beer Company, poses in the company\u2019s tasting room in Freeport, Maine, May 7, 2015. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty, File)<\/p>\n

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Dan Kleban <\/p>\n

The co-founder of Maine Beer Company, Kleban also confirmed his candidacy on Wednesday after Platner\u2019s announcement. Kleban briefly entered the Senate race last year before dropping out when Mills announced her candidacy. Kleban, 49, endorsed Mills, who later dropped out of the Democratic primary. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m ready to fight for Mainers and bring a new generation of leadership to Washington,\u201d Kleban said. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Maine<\/p>\n

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows speaks at a news conference, Oct. 6, 2025 at the Maine State House in Augusta. (AP Photo\/Patrick Whittle, File)<\/p>\n

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows speaks at a news conference, Oct. 6, 2025 at the Maine State House in Augusta. (AP Photo\/Patrick Whittle, File)<\/p>\n

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Shenna Bellows<\/p>\n

Bellows is Maine\u2019s secretary of state. She announced Thursday that she\u2019s running for the seat, saying she\u2019s spent her career \u201ctaking on tough fights and doing the right thing,\u201d where she\u2019s served as a former civil liberties advocate and sparred with President-elect Donald Trump over ballot access<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This wouldn\u2019t be her first time running for political office. Bellows, 51, placed fourth in the state\u2019s Democratic governor\u2019s primary in June. And in 2014, Bellows ran against Collins as the Senate Democratic nominee and lost in a landslide.<\/p>\n

Jordan Wood<\/p>\n

Wood, 36, initially attempted to run in the Maine Democratic Senate primary last year but dropped out to run in the state\u2019s 2nd District. He lost that race, coming in third to state Auditor Matt Dunlap. He\u2019s since said he\u2019s interested in running for the Senate again, and announced on Thursday. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo beat Susan Collins, we need a candidate who can provide a true contrast and run an unapologetically progressive campaign: Passing Medicare for All. Stopping ICE terrorizing our streets,\u201d Wood wrote on social media<\/a> on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Paige Loud<\/p>\n

Loud filed paperwork to run for the Senate seat earlier this week. The 29-year-old social worker also ran in the state\u2019s 2nd District Democratic primary, but came in last during the state\u2019s first round of ranked choice voting. <\/p>\n

Valli Geiger<\/p>\n

Geiger, a previous Platner supporter and a state Democratic lawmaker, is another potential candidate. She hasn\u2019t announced her candidacy, but in an interview with MS NOW on Wednesday, Geiger, 70, said she would hire Platner\u2019s staff, whom she described as \u201cdeeply impassioned and confident young people.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Costello<\/p>\n

Costello ran in the June primary and finished third behind Platner, who won, and Mills, who was still on the ballot despite having suspended her campaign. Costello announced Thursday that he is back in the race. He said in a social media post that he believes he is the right candidate because his \u201clived experiences are rooted in the same challenges countless Mainers face every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Kruesi reported from Providence, R.I.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Follow the AP\u2019s coverage of the 2026 election at https:\/\/apnews.com\/projects\/elections-2026\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORTLAND, Maine (AP) \u2014 Democrats in Maine began jockeying Thursday to become the new candidate for a pivotal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[164749,23,1927,8634,12,1070,793,93692,10482,323368,10481,3,111,21490,12800,8638,21,19,11162,22,20,25,24,8647,800],"class_list":["post-754458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-2026-elections","tag-america","tag-ap-top-news","tag-bernie-sanders","tag-donald-trump","tag-elections","tag-general-news","tag-janet-mills","tag-maine","tag-matthew-dunlap","tag-me-state-wire","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-senate-elections","tag-susan-collins","tag-u-s-democratic-party","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-united-states-senate","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-voting","tag-washington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}