Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner postpones multiple campaign events as July 13 ballot deadline nears, report says

Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee seeking to face incumbent U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in Maine’s November election, has begun canceling or indefinitely postponing multiple campaign events as a July 13 deadline for replacing him on the ballot approaches, according to a report from the New York Post on July 6.

The report said scheduled town halls in Augusta on Sunday and in Gorham on Monday were indefinitely postponed, and that an event in Sanford had its listing removed. It also quoted Gorham Democrats saying Platner was “not feeling well,” describing the cancellations in terms of his condition rather than an electoral logistics change.

Maine Democrats have until 5 p.m. on July 13 to swap Platner for another candidate, the report said. Under the state’s election process for candidate substitution, the deadline is intended to keep ballots aligned with a party’s qualified nominee when a vacancy or replacement is necessary.

The July 6 report tied the narrower schedule to growing political scrutiny surrounding Platner, including recent negative coverage and ongoing allegations about his conduct. The New York Post wrote that a New York Times report last month described allegations from six former girlfriends, with three alleging he physically abused or intimidated them, and that Platner and his campaign acknowledged sexting allegations involving six other women while married.

Beyond those allegations, the New York Post said Platner has also faced coverage related to comments on a Reddit forum and a tattoo of a Nazi SS symbol that he later replaced, though those points were presented as part of prior reporting rather than as findings by an official process. The report also stated that Platner and his team have acknowledged some elements of the sexting allegation, according to the Post’s account.

The report additionally cited polling showing Platner leading Collins in a survey conducted by The New York Times, the Portland Press Herald, and Siena College, with the Post reporting figures of 49% to 47% and a 3% share of respondents who said they did not know whom they would support or declined to answer.

With the July 13 substitution deadline now the focus, Maine Democrats’ next move depends on whether the party determines it can and should replace Platner and, if so, whether a replacement candidate can meet the ballot and qualification requirements by the deadline. If replacement is completed in time, the party’s choice would shape the matchup voters will see on Maine’s U.S. Senate ballot.

In the near term, the cancellations themselves have practical effects for voters and local organizers who had planned to attend town halls and campaign events, including in Augusta, Gorham, and Sanford, according to the New York Post’s descriptions.

All details about why the schedule changes are occurring were attributed to the Post’s reporting and to statements cited within that report; the reasons for event postponements were not supported by an official public record from the campaign in the materials reviewed for this story.