The Maine Democrat Party forced Graham Platner out of the Senate race. Not because of a Nazi tattoo. Not because he allegedly abused a Republican ex-girlfriend. Not even because he mocked a teenager’s failed attempt to take her own life.
Democrats only turned on Platner after a second ex-girlfriend came forward alleging a break-in and assault — and his polling numbers collapsed.
The ousting reveals everything about Democrat priorities.
Platner won the Democrat primary with 72 percent of the vote despite mounting controversies. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Ro Khanna all continued endorsing him even though nearly every allegation except the latest was already public before the primary.
Democrats could overlook abhorrent alleged conduct as long as it didn’t threaten their chances of taking a Senate seat.
A New York Times poll found Platner leading Republican Sen. Susan Collins by 2 percentage points just days before the final allegation broke. Democrats tolerated everything — until he became a liability.
Once party leaders decided Platner could cost them the seat, the calls for withdrawal came immediately. The problem wasn’t another accusation. The problem was an accusation that might lose them an election.
Democrats deserve zero credit for pressuring Platner out now after accepting his serious flaws when he was winning. Their sudden outrage doesn’t erase the fact they defended or ignored behavior they now implicitly admit was disqualifying.
But Platner isn’t the only problematic Democrat candidate party leaders are embracing.
Virginia Democrats elected Jay Jones as attorney general last November after private messages leaked showing he once fantasized about taking the life of Republican colleague Todd Gilbert and Gilbert’s children.
Adam Hamaway won the June Democrat primary for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District despite having volunteered and interned in Bosnia with the Benevolence International Foundation. The 9/11 Commission and U.S. authorities later described the group as providing support to al-Qaida. Hamaway also testified in defense of Omar Abdel-Rahman, who was convicted in the 1993 World Trade Center attack.
Ethiopian-born Melat Kiros won the Democrat primary for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District in June. She blamed America for 9/11, calling it “inevitable in the sense that we destabilized a lot of the Middle East, that forced people to believe that another act of violence was the only response.”
Aber Kawas won the Democrat primary for a New York State Senate seat after claiming the system of “capitalism and racism and white supremacy” and “Islamophobia” have all been used to “colonize lands” and “take resources” — calling 9/11 a “manifestation of that continuation.”
“The eradication of Western civilization” — the stated goal of a Columbia University group founded by Democrat congressional primary winner Darializa Avila Chevalier.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, a socialist who won the Democrat primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District, founded the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group that called for the “eradication of Western civilization.” She claims she wipes her hands on the American flag and has advocated for “seizing the means of production.”
Democrats have made their calculation clear. They will overlook otherwise disqualifying actions as long as the political cost doesn’t come at a steep price.
Platner may be gone, but the party is still elevating candidates who fantasize about taking the lives of their opposition, who justify terrorist attacks, and who openly call to end America as we know it.
The only thing Platner’s withdrawal confirms is Democrats have extremely low standards — and they only enforce them when losing is on the line.
My name might be on the ballot right now, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine. pic.twitter.com/RKVyLU76tm
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) July 9, 2026
