What with the day-to-day embarrassing surprises afflicting Maine’s leading Democrat Senate candidate, Graham Platner could eventually decide to drop out, says a leading political ethicist.
“Per Maine law, Platner can quit after he is nominated without providing a reason prior to 5 p.m. on the second Monday in July,” writes Henry Olsen on X. “The state party then names a replacement prior to 5 p.m. on the fourth Monday in July.”
Platner is on the Democrat primary ballot for the upcoming June 9 election, along with David Costello.
Democrat two-term-limited Gov. Janet Mills is also on the ballot, despite recently claiming she was dropping out of the race allegedly because she was out of money.
But since Mills hasn’t formally notified the secretary of state that she withdrew from the contest, Mills is still considered a candidate and could still be elected.
Olsen, senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, cited Maine election law allowing a nominee to withdraw even after the primary.
But of course he was talking about Platner, not Mills.
Olsen issued his opinion Saturday on Platner’s possibly withdrawing just hours after a Wall Street Journal report about sexual texts that the married candidate sent to several women.
Amy Gertner said she found her husband’s texts a year ago and warned the Platner campaign they could be trouble.
Gertner also issued a statement late Saturday defending her husband, claiming that she had told a friend about the texts but that the friend betrayed her confidence.
A growing chorus of political heavyweights from all stripes are now suggesting Platner is becoming more of a liability than anyone ever expected, according to a Maine Wire staff report late Saturday.
Then, on the heels of that story, Jon Fetherston of The Maine Wire reported that a sexually suggestive profile tied to Platner was discovered on Kik, a messaging application that anti-exploitation groups have described as a haven for online predators and child exploitation.
Olsen, speculating on whether the latest flaps may drive Platner out of the race, writes columns in National Review Online, Washington Examiner and Washington Post.
Janet didn’t withdraw. She “suspended” her campaign. I’m guessing there’s a reason she worded it that way.
I’m still seeing a lot of Platner lawn signs in Cumberland County. Either his supporters aren’t getting the information on his behavior or, if they are, it doesn’t matter to them. We should change the slogan “Maine: The Way Life Should Be” to “Maine: Beautiful Geographically; Bankrupt Politically.”