He's Baaaack: Platner Returns to Political Spotlight as His Replacement Deals with a Domestic Violence Allegation of His Own
For those of you up in Maine, I bring unfortunate news: It seems that, even after all he’s been through, there is no one to keep Graham Platner from pursuing Graham Platner’s own bad decisions.
Considering it’s been just over a month after he withdrew from the Maine Senate race after securing the Democratic nomination amid his 356th (or so) scandal — this one a sexual abuse allegation coming from a Democrat, which are apparently the only sexual abuse claims that count — you would think that he’d be hiding in a homebuilt submarine in the most remote oyster farm in Downeast Maine.
But, no. Platner, ever oblivious to the fact that he’ll “only be remembered as the accused rapist that got pushed out of your election” (Sen. John Fetterman’s words, not mine), has decided that now was the opportune time to announce he was going to be speaking at a Labor Day function in Maine. You know, just as the race he was supposed to be participating in nears the homestretch.
It also doesn’t help that this announcement came as his replacement, former Maine state Senate President Troy Jackson, deals with partner violence allegations of his own.
But back to Platner — who, according to The Washington Post, was the announced headliner for a Labor Day rally for local Democrats. From Friday’s report headlined “Graham Platner to speak at Maine rally in return to public eye”:
The rally, which is publicly listed on the Hancock County Democrats website and was first reported by the Bangor Daily News, will mark Platner’s first public appearance since leaving the Senate race in early July. He will speak about the history of unions and role of organized labor, according to the website.
Platner left the race following an accusation of sexual assault by a woman he previously dated, though he strongly denied the allegation. His campaign was marred by other scandals even before the allegation, including old social media posts dismissive of sexual assault, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol that he later covered up, sexually explicit messages that he sent to other women while married, and allegations of physical intimidation by former partners. He denied the accusations of physical intimidation and said others were the result of PTSD from his time in the military.
The report cited an announcement on the website of the Hancock County Democrats. But planning is clearly not going smoothly. The link cited by The Washington Post now leads to a bleak “Page Not Found.”
An archived version of the link doesn’t mention Platner at all.
The entire event, in fact, has been wiped from the September 2026 calendar, at least for the moment. The only two events listed for the month of September are a booth at the Blue Hill Fair on Sept. 3 and a meeting at a Unitarian Universalist church Sept. 17, the latter of which could only be more parodical if there were a raffle for a pair of Birkenstocks involved.
Assuming The Washington Post account was originally correct (and ABC News also reported Platner’s upcoming appearance), one can guess why the state’s Democrats might want it axed — and it’s not just that Platner is still a clueless narcissist who’s a legend in his own mind. The announcement came as his replacement, second cousin-romancer Troy Jackson, also faces a partner violence allegation.
According to a Bangor Daily News report published Wednesday, in a 1988 incident, the then-19-year-old Jackson went to a man’s home at 2 a.m., “kicked the door in,” and punched the man. The man was apparently interested in Lana Pelletier, Jackson’s cousin/lover, since Jackson told the man: “Stay away from Lana Pelletier or else.”
According to the newspaper account, Pelletier, who was Jackson’s high school sweetheart, told police at the time that Jackson also pushed her that night, and that she planned to go to court the following week to get “cease harassment papers” against him. She apparently never did so.
Pelletier now denies that she made the statement, according to the Bangor Daily News, and Jackson insists he wasn’t violent toward his partner.
“Nearly [40] years ago, when I was 19 years old, I got into a fight with another man. I took responsibility for it then, and I take responsibility for it now,” he said in a statement, according to the newspaper.
“But let me be clear: I have never been violent with my partner Lana, or any other woman. This happened nearly four decades ago, and I assure Mainers this incident in no way reflects the man I am today or the life I’ve led in the years since.”
Granted, this happened almost 40 years ago. But there are several issues here.
Maine Democrats were given a choice to unseat Sen. Susan Collins, possibly the most vulnerable Republican senator in this election cycle. The first time around, they chose a guy with more red flags than an old Soviet May Day parade. For whatever reason, charisma couldn’t overcome this impediment, and Democrats were forced to get him to step back, only to replace him with a man who is just as radical with a notoriously bad temper and, if that weren’t enough, is in a long-term relationship with his second cousin.
Then, just as more bad news breaks about Jackson, Platner apparently decides it’s time to reemerge from his oyster farm and talk about labor at an event just two months before Election Day.
At this point, Maine Democrats have to be asking themselves: What could possibly go right?
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