WASHINGTON — An ex-girlfriend of scandal-scarred Graham Platner alleged that the Maine Senate hopeful broke into her home and raped her almost five years ago.
Maine resident Jenny Racicot came forward with the accusations to Politico, recalling the alleged rape in graphic detail and providing corroboration. A chorus of prominent Democrats quickly rescinded their endorsements of Platner and urged him to exit the race, including New York Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.
Platner has a July 13 deadline to drop out of the race for Democrats to easily replace him on the ballot to face GOP Sen. Susan Collins in November — in a state that is key to control of the Senate.
Racicot recalled how Platner entered her unlocked home one night in 2021 — after she texted him that she didn’t want to see him and told him not to come over. She said Platner was “very drunk and wouldn’t take no for an answer” after telling him “No, don’t.”
“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 explained to Politico of the alleged rape.
The two connected on Bumble in 2019 and had an on-again, off-again relationship until the alleged rape, according to Racicot’s telling.
Racicot gave a disturbing account of how Platner entered her home, came up the stairs, and got on top of her while she was on a couch. Platner allegedly got physical with her, and she repeatedly rebuffed him.
Then, she claims to have broken away from him while he seemed “almost blackout drunk,” but Platner continued, and she retreated to her bedroom, according to her telling. In the bedroom, she alleged that Platner had nonconsensual sex and ejaculated into her while she was not on birth control.
“I had recognized that he wasn’t listening to me. It wasn’t just that he wasn’t hearing me or whatnot,” she told CNN’s Jake Tapper. ”I don’t think I was safe to physically fight back.”
Racicot was briefly featured in the bombshell New York Times story on Platner last month, but her sexual assault accusation against him was not mentioned in that piece, which revealed accusations of misconduct from ex-girlfriend Lyndsey Fifield.
Asked if she was raped by Platner, Racicot told CNN: “By definition, yes, absolutely yes.”
Prominent backers, including Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and the Maine Democratic Party, called on Platner to drop out. Senate Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) joined Schumer and Gillbrant in calling for him to “immediately withdraw.”
The DSCC warned it won’t invest in the Maine Senate race if Platner remains on the ballot.
“One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him as a person,” Racicot told Politico. “I just want the truth out there. I just want people to have a whole scope of who he is as a person.”
Platner vehemently denied the accusations as “troubling, serious, and false.”
“Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” he added.
“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 for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to, and the goal of defeating Susan Collins,” Platner announced in a video.
Platner, his campaign, and political strategist Morris Katz were debating Monday evening whether to drop out, a source told The Post. Katz — who appeared alongside Mayor Zohran Mamdani leading up to the New York primary races — has been told to steer clear of the mayor until July 13, the deadline for Platner to be swapped out on the ballot, a source close to City Hall said.
After the alleged rape, Racicot claimed that she contemplated the possibility of kicking Platner out of her house, but was afraid he would be a danger driving in his condition.
Weeks later, after she had her period and was sure she wasn’t pregnant, Racicot claims to have messaged Platner over Instagram, stressing that their encounter wasn’t consensual. She wasn’t able to recover those messages and claims she deleted all of her communications with Platner as part of an effort to move on.
She did not file a police report. Under Maine law, the statute of limitations on rape is 20 years.
But Racicot had emails with her therapist in which she recounted her communication with the media over the “sa/rape,” explaining that she wasn’t ready to go public with them, according to Politico.
She also pointed the outlet to a man she dated after Platner, to whom she confided details of her experience with the future Maine Senate hopeful. The unnamed man told an identical account of her accusations to the outlet.
In Facebook messages to a female acquaintance from 2023, she described how she “ended up in a bad situation with” Platner, who was “consensually careless” and “doesn’t listen to you when drunk.”
Publicly, Platner repeatedly insisted that he had no more skeletons in his closet and vehemently denied accusations that he engaged in egregious physical behavior toward women. Racicot said his denial troubled her.
“I know that he is capable of putting his hands on women,” she told Politico. “So I don’t believe that to be the truth.”
The Post reached out to Racicot and Platner’s campaign for comment.