The Maine Democratic Party has announced it will select a new nominee at a convention held sometime in the next two weeks. Media reports indicate hundreds of delegates will weigh in on the choice.
The party will have to tread carefully when nominating a replacement aligned with the policies that Platner successfully ran on, while ensuring the new candidate can take on Collins and her formidable operation.
“There is an unprecedented amount of energy and enthusiasm among Maine Democrats, driven in part by many of the dedicated volunteers and supporters who were inspired by Graham Platners’s campaign,” the party said in a statement after Platner dropped out.
“We look forward to coming together and harnessing that energy around our new nominee as we work to defeat Susan Collins in November,” the statement said.
Platner said in his video announcement on Wednesday that the process “needs to be reflecting the will and the values of the people that built this movement” in Maine and added that “people in DC need to stay in DC. Decisions should not be made in back rooms by people in places of political power”.
On Tuesday, Maine Democratic Party Executive Director Devon-Murphy Anderson accused the Platner campaign of trying to put its “thumb on the scale of what this process looks like”.
“We have repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner’s team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee to the US Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like,” Anderson said.
Over the last few days, Senate hopefuls have been vocal with their interest in replacing Platner on the ballot. By Wednesday, it seemed as though every available Maine politician was gunning for the Senate.
Economist Nirav Shah, who ran for governor of Maine earlier this year, said he is evaluating a run. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows has said she is “still considering” and Dan Kleban, founder of the Maine Beer Company who had suspended his initial Senate campaign last year, announced on Wednesday, “I’m in.”
Another potential candidate, former state senator Troy Jackson, said he was exploring options.
Television actor Patrick Dempsey, who starred in the US medical drama series Grey’s Anatomy, put to rest chatter around a potential bid on Wednesday in a newspaper opinion piece.
“As I reflected on all of this, I kept coming back to one question: Do I truly want to serve in Congress?” he wrote. “After a lot of thought, I realized the answer is no. Not because public service isn’t honorable — it absolutely is. But because I believe I can contribute more effectively through the life I’ve already built.”
Mills, Platner’s previous opponent in the Democratic primary and the state’s governor, had the backing of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer but suspended her campaign before the election as she struggled to gain traction.
Platner officially won the Democratic nomination on 9 June as Maine voters, frustrated with the party establishment, gravitated toward his outsider persona and populist views. It was not immediately clear if Mills would revive her campaign after Platner’s announcement.
