Jenny Racicot, 41, has accused Graham Platner — the Democratic nominee challenging Republican incumbent Susan Collins for Maine's U.S. Senate seat — of sexually assaulting her in late 2021, according to a Politico exclusive published on July 6, 2026, and subsequently reported by The Guardian.

Racicot told Politico that she and Platner had been in an on-and-off relationship for more than two years and had previously had consensual sex. She alleges that on a specific occasion in late 2021, an intoxicated Platner entered her home uninvited and forced himself on her despite her repeated objections — including having sex with her against her will and ejaculating inside her after she told him not to. She says she cut off contact with him immediately after. No police report was filed at the time.

Platner denied the allegations unequivocally. In a statement to Politico, he called them "troubling, serious, and false," and added: "Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue." He followed up with a video posted to X acknowledging the political impact of the story while reiterating that the accusations were baseless.

Politico's reporting included corroborating material: a man Racicot later confided in, therapist emails, and private messages in which she warned an acquaintance about Platner years before he launched his Senate campaign. Racicot had previously spoken to the New York Times for a June 2026 story on Platner's conduct toward women he dated, but she did not disclose the assault allegation in that conversation.

A Candidate Already Under Scrutiny

The Politico story lands on a candidacy that has weathered sustained controversy since spring. In May 2026, the New York Times reported that Platner's wife had informed his campaign he had sent sexual messages to other women — a disclosure his wife subsequently commented on publicly. By early June, CNN and AP had reported that a separate ex-girlfriend alleged Platner repeatedly grabbed her hard enough to leave marks and pulled her from a cab — allegations WBUR also detailed on June 5. Platner dismissed those accounts as "politically motivated."

He is also a former Marine veteran and oyster farmer who has faced questions about a Nazi-linked tattoo — since covered — and controversial social media posts. Despite the accumulating controversy, Platner secured the Democratic nomination in Maine's primary, confirmed by AP on June 10, and drew a visibly supportive crowd at a town hall event days earlier.

Stakes for the Collins Race

The general election context sharpens the stakes considerably. Susan Collins is among the most durable figures in Senate Republican politics — a repeat winner in a state that leans Democratic in presidential cycles — and a credible challenger was always going to require near-flawless execution from the Democratic side. Maine's electoral dynamics, including its ranked-choice voting system, give third-party and independent candidates unusual leverage, meaning candidate viability is particularly sensitive to personal controversies.

The Racicot allegation is structurally distinct from what came before it. Physical intimidation and inappropriate texts are damaging; a specific, corroborated claim of non-consensual sex is a different order of allegation — one that typically forces party leadership to make public calculations they would rather avoid. Whether national Democratic organizations, Senate Majority PAC, or Maine's own party apparatus move to distance themselves or withdraw financial support will be the operational signal to watch in the days ahead.

Racicot's decision to go to Politico rather than law enforcement, combined with the absence of a contemporaneous police report, means the allegation will not advance through a criminal process in the near term. That leaves the political arena as the primary venue — and Platner's viability as the central question for Maine Democrats, who must weigh a candidate with genuine grassroots support against a pattern of allegations that now includes a claim of sexual assault.