Graham Platner, the Democratic Senate nominee from Maine, said he was taking time to “reflect” on his political path forward after a report that a woman had accused him of sexual assault, which he denied.
“Regardless of the inaccuracy of the reporting but mindful of the political reality it will inflict, we are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward,” he said.
It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Platner intended to continue his campaign against Senator Susan Collins, a Maine Republican. He has until July 13 to withdraw from the race, and if he does the state Democratic Party has until July 27 to replace him on the ticket, according to Maine state law.
Both parties see Maine as key to the battle for control of the Senate, and several of Mr. Platner’s supporters withdrew their endorsements of him after the allegations surfaced.
Jenny Racicot, who said she dated Mr. Platner casually off and on between 2019 and 2021, told The New York Times this spring about a 2021 incident in which she said he arrived at her house drunk after she had asked him not to come over. At the time, she declined to share further details of that encounter on the record, but she said she found his behavior “reckless” and “unsettling,” and cut off contact soon after that episode.
But in a new interview published in Politico on Monday, Ms. Racicot elaborated on her recollection of that night, saying Mr. Platner let himself into her home, climbed on top of her and kept grabbing her — even after she repeatedly told him to stop. He ignored her protests and followed her into the bedroom, where, she said, he had sex with her against her will.
“I had been telling him these words, like: ‘No, don’t,’” she told Politico.
“And, the look on his face and realizing what was happening, I just realized that, like, I am in a situation where there’s no consent here,” she said.
Mr. Platner called the allegations “troubling, serious, and false,” in the direct-to-camera video.
“Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” he said.
His statement came shortly after he had postponed several campaign events.
Senator Collins, who is seen as one of the most vulnerable incumbent Republicans in the Senate, said in a statement that the “allegations are appalling.” But she added that “it is not up to me to choose the Democratic nominee for Senate.”
Ms. Racicot did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
