民主党籍候选人格雷厄姆・普拉特纳退出联邦参议员竞选后，缅因州民主党正全力收拾残局。州党总部里，31 岁的执行董事德文・墨菲 - 安德森和她人数不多的专职团队，再加上一支规模不断壮大的无偿志愿者队伍，电话一刻不停。
上周普拉特纳宣布退选，这场对阵共和党现任联邦参议员苏珊・科林斯的竞选局势彻底陷入未知。他深陷性侵指控，虽始终予以否认，但丑闻直接断送了自己的参选之路。
此次参议员选举将决定参院控制权花落谁家，如今民主党必须从零搭建全新的候选人遴选流程。 仅有两周时间选出新候选人
墨菲 - 安德森周六接受美国广播公司新闻台记者杰伊・奥布莱恩采访时表示：“全美国现在都清楚，我们必须在 7 月 27 日周一下午 5 点前，向州务卿提交正式候选人名单。” 她补充道：“我们只剩下两周筹备时间，所以这次遴选工作的核心目标，就是打造一套尽可能公平、透明、包容的选拔机制。”
民主党计划在 7 月 25 日举办一场 601 人规模的党内代表大会，距离提交候选人名单截止日仅剩两天。参会代表由两部分构成：101 名州党委员会核心成员，以及来自缅因州全部 16 个县的 500 名基层代表。墨菲 - 安德森介绍，普通选民也拥有话语权，各县地方党支部会提前召开座谈会收集民众意见。
记者奥布莱恩提问：“你们眼下最大的难题，是不是如何安抚初选时绝大多数投票给普拉特纳的选民，让他们觉得自己的诉求被重视?”
墨菲 - 安德森回应：“我们要应对的挑战有很多，这绝对是重中之重。此前凝聚起来的基层选民热情，现在需要找到新的落脚点。”
奥布莱恩追问：“你担心这份热情会就此消散吗?”
“我完全不担心。如果你亲身来到缅因州实地感受，我相信你也会得出和我一样的结论。” 墨菲 - 安德森答道。
普拉特纳是牡蛎养殖户，也曾是海军陆战队作战老兵。他发起的竞选走激进进步路线，此前已经熬过多起负面争议：2023 年新婚不久，他被曝出向多名女性发送露骨色情信息;胸口一处疑似纳粹标志的纹身也饱受质疑。
普拉特纳解释，这处纹身是 2007 年休假时和战友喝醉后纹下的，后来他做了遮盖处理，声称当时并不清楚这个符号的含义。
佛蒙特州无党派联邦参议员伯尼・桑德斯等一众进步派政客原本一直力挺他，直到不到一周前，其前女友出面指控他性侵，普拉特纳依旧否认指控。包括桑德斯在内的大批民主党人士随即公开呼吁他退出竞选。
起初普拉特纳百般拖延，即便宣布暂停竞选，他仍辩解：“媒体主动找上门我才得知这项指控，我根本没有充足时间回应、等待调查，主流媒体和政坛建制派却直接充当了法官、陪审团与行刑者。”
而墨菲 - 安德森上周发布一段态度强硬的视频，指责普拉特纳及其竞选团队变相挟持了候选人替换流程。
普拉特纳竞选团队证实确实联系过州民主党，但否认试图干预遴选，称只是想了解选票上替换候选人的具体流程。
奥布莱恩向墨菲 - 安德森发问：“是什么让你认为他们想插手、定下遴选规则?”
她拒绝透露对方提出的具体要求，仅表示普拉特纳团队多次直接拨打她的私人电话，提出了一系列明确诉求。
“这场竞选原本标榜绝不暗箱操作、不偏袒任何一方，可如今他们自己反倒想动用特权施压。不管是他的支持者、全体民主党选民，还是缅因州民众，都不该遭遇这种事。” 墨菲 - 安德森告诉记者。
普拉特纳最终宣布退出竞选时，将责任归咎于多方外部势力打压，此前参议院民主党高层曾威胁切断他的竞选资金。
周三深夜，他在社交平台发布一段 11 分钟视频称：“想要我们这场进步运动延续下去，选票上的候选人不能是我。手握权力的人借着这些指控，夺走我们竞选所需的全部资源。”
墨菲 - 安德森直接驳斥了这套说辞。
“民主党根本不是什么盘根错节的官僚建制。你现在就在我们办公室，这里没有所谓政客密室交易，全是一群年轻人在干活。” 她对记者说。
记者奥布莱恩表示：“但他确实给外界留下了这种被建制打压的印象。”
墨菲 - 安德森回应：“我不知道他的最终目的是什么，我也不想深究。” 两周内各路候选人争相登场，挑战科林斯
普拉特纳退选后的替代人选争夺战才打响数日，竞争就已全面升温。目前至少有 7 名参选者主动表态，其中不乏全州知名政坛人物、过往竞选参与者，都宣称自己是击败老牌共和党参议员科林斯的最佳人选。科林斯是今年缅因州唯一需要捍卫参议院席位的共和党人，2024 年大选特朗普曾在该州落败。
热门参选者包括前州参议院议长、伐木工特洛伊・杰克逊，他希望承接普拉特纳吸引工薪阶层选民的竞选路线;此外还有缅因州州务卿申娜・贝洛斯、缅因啤酒公司创始人丹・克莱班，以及该州前疾控中心主任尼拉夫・沙阿博士。
普拉特纳宣布退选后，沙阿开启首场基层巡回座谈会。面对记者，他并不认为普拉特纳系列丑闻会抬高击败科林斯的难度，也不觉得自己仓促参选浪费了宝贵竞选时间。
“我们的核心目标从未改变，只是站在前线的候选人换了人。民主党人想要击败苏珊・科林斯的心愿、热情与斗志，一丝一毫都没有减弱。” 沙阿说道。
科林斯已经五次拿下缅因州联邦参议员选举，她表示对手更换不会改变自己的竞选策略。
周六，她接受美国广播公司缅因地方台 WMTW 采访时称：“我从不轻视任何一场选举。” 普拉特纳原有支持者前路难统一
民主党还面临另一重难题：如何凝聚全部力量支持新任候选人。不少普拉特纳的忠实支持者坦言，心仪候选人退选让他们十分失落，同时担心党内分歧会拖累民主党 11 月大选的胜算。
曾投票支持普拉特纳的民主党选民马克・里德告诉记者：“当初我们绝大多数人，都是认同他所倡导的政治理念才选择支持他。”
另一位支持者桑德拉・史密斯・康登表示，虽然内心难以接受，但她认为绝大多数普拉特纳的支持者最终会转而投票给新任民主党候选人。
“大家需要一点时间消化这件事，但最终都会放下分歧。所有人都必须团结起来支持党内提名者，合力击败苏珊・科林斯，这才是眼下最重要的事。” 她说。
As Maine Democrats scramble to replace Platner, party director says the 'grassroots energy … needs to find a home'
As the Maine Democratic Party scrambles to recover from thecollapsed Senate campaign of Graham Platner, at the state party headquarters the phone hasn’t stopped ringing for 31-year-old Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson and her small team -- along with a growing army of unpaid volunteers.
They‘re facing uncharted political waters since Platner withdrew from the election last week in the race against Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins while continuing to deny an allegation of sexual assault that derailed his candidacy.
The party is now building a candidate selection process from scratch in a race that could decide which party controls the Senate.
2 weeks to choose a new candidate...
“As everyone now knows in the country, we owe the Secretary of State at 5 p.m. on Monday, July 27th, a name,” Murphy-Anderson told ABC News’ Jay O’Brien on Saturday. She added later, “We've got two weeks … so our goal going into this was to make this as fair and transparent and inclusive a process as possible.”
Democrats plan a 601-person party convention to be held on July 25, just two days before the deadline. Those delegates will include 101 members from the state party’s central committee and 500 delegates from all of Maine’s 16 counties. Voters will also have a say, Murphy-Anderson told O’Brien, including meetings within their local parties beforehand.
“That's the biggest problem facing you guys, isn't it? Making sure that voters who voted in that primary overwhelmingly for Graham Platner feel represented?” O’Brien asked.
“I think we face a lot of challenges, right? And that is definitely one of them,” Murphy-Anderson said, adding later, “The grassroots energy that we had up until this moment needs to find a home.”
O’Brien pressed Murphy Anderson: “Are you worried that it might not?”
“No, I'm not. And if you are here on the ground in Maine, I am confident that you will come away with that same conclusion,” Murphy-Anderson responded.
Platner, an oyster farmer and Marine combat veteran, built up an insurgent, progressive campaign and guided it through other scandals and controversies, including reports he sent sexually explicit messages to multiple women shortly after he was married in 2023, as well as questions about a tattoo on his chest resembling a Nazi symbol.
Platner said he got the tattoo while he was drunk on leave with other Marines in 2007; he later covered it up, claiming he hadn’t known its significance.
Progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., largely stuck by him until less than a week ago when an ex-girlfriend accused Platner of sexual assault, an allegation he denies. A chorus of Democrats -- including Sanders -- thencalled on him to step aside.
Platner initially dragged his feet, and even when he announced he would suspend his bid, claimed, “I learned about this [allegation] through press inquiries, with no time to truly respond, no time for investigations, before a corporate media system and the political establishment got to act as judge, jury, and executioner.”
But in a defiant video last week, Murphy-Anderson blamed Platner and his campaign for essentially holding the process of picking a replacement hostage.
Platner’s campaign confirmed it had reached out to the party, but denied trying to influence the selection process, saying the campaign was trying to understand how Platner would be replaced on the ballot.
"What gave you that impression that they were trying to dictate terms here?” O’Brien asked Murphy-Anderson.
She declined to share specifics of the demands she said Platner’s team made, but said they had made “direct calls to my phone,” later saying they “called with very specific things that they were asking for.”
“This campaign that had been centered on not putting their thumb on the scale, was now trying to do the same thing, and his supporters deserved better, our supporters deserved better, and Mainers deserve better,” Murphy-Anderson told O’Brien.
When he ultimately ended his campaign, Platner blamed “large forces” working against him after Senate leadership threatened to pull campaign funding.
“We believe that for the movement to continue, it can't be me” on the ballot, he said inan 11-minute videoposted on social media late Wednesday, but added, “Those in power who have the ability to do so are using these allegations as an excuse to take away all of the things that we need to run a campaign.”
Murphy-Anderson pushed back sharply on that insinuation.
“This is not an institution. You're here in our office. There's no cigar smoke to be seen, right? It is a bunch of young people,” she told O’Brien.
“But he did kind of create that impression,” O’Brien pressed.
“I don't know what his end goal was, and I'm not concerned with that,” Murphy-Anderson responded.
…and 2 weeks for them to make their case to take on Collins
While only a few days old, the race to replace Platner is already in full swing. At least seven hopefuls so far, including statewide leaders and former candidates for other races, are pitching themselves as the best bet to unseat Collins, Maine’s longtime Republican senator. She is the only Republican defending a Senate seat this year in a state Trump lost in 2024.
The list of candidates includes former State Senate President and logger Troy Jackson, who's trying to pick up Platner’s working class mantle; as well as Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, Maine Beer Company founder Dan Kleban and the state’s former CDC director Dr. Nirav Shah.
At the first stop on Shah’s new town hall tour launched in the wake of Platner’s withdrawal, Shah told O’Brien he was not worried Platner’s scandals have made it harder to defeat Collins, and that he doesn’t think he’s lost valuable time as a candidate despite launching his bid so late.
“Our mission hasn't changed. The person who's going to be at the front of that mission is changing, but the desire, the enthusiasm, the zeal among Democrats to defeat Susan Collins has not changed at all,” Shah said.
Collins, who has won five Senate races in Maine, says the change in her opponent doesn’t impact her approach.
“I never take any race for granted,” shetold ABC affiliate WMTWon Saturday.
Former Platner supporters look at the road ahead
But Democrats face the additional challenge of uniting behind a new candidate, as some former Platner supporters say they’re grieving the withdrawal of their preferred candidate and hoping their second choice doesn't hurt Democrats’ chances in November.
Mark Read, a Democrat who supported Platner, told O’Brien, “I think most of us were attracted to the politics that he spoke to.”
Another Platner supporter, Sandra Smith Congdon, told O’Brien she thinks most of those who backed Platner will come out to support the new candidate in the end, although it won’t be easy.
“I think people will take some time, but I think ultimately they will. I think that they need to get behind whoever the nominee is and support that person to beat Susan Collins, because ultimately that's what matters,” she said.
