Karen Heck still wishes Graham Platner were on the ballot.
Heck, a former mayor of Waterville, Maine, told The Post at a Troy Jackson town hall Monday that Democratic insiders sabotaged the disgraced candidate because his movement threatened the party establishment. “The establishment did not want him to be out there mobilizing people who had never voted before, just for change,” she said. “It’s another example of innuendo taking somebody down who was popular.”
Heck added that prosecutors should have pursued Jenny Racicot’s rape accusation against Platner if they found it credible, noting that “circumstances around that allegation were never investigated.”
Wanda Fortin, who attended the same Jackson event Monday, voiced similar suspicions about the timing of Racicot’s public accusation. It emerged just before the deadline for Platner to withdraw so Democrats could replace him on the ticket.
“Unfortunately, we had such a small window at that time. I was upset with the Dems,” Fortin said. “The way it all came down, I just thought it was pretty unfair.”
Fortin compared Platner’s scandals favorably to “what we’ve got in the White House” and predicted he could rehabilitate his image. “In hindsight, he’s gonna have to clear his name a bit, but I’m hopeful that he’ll come back into politics because I think he’s a good guy,” she added. “I think he could shed some of that negativity that surrounds him.”
Barbara Van Burgel, seated beside Fortin, framed Platner’s troubles through the lens of his military service. “Platner never denied that he had some tough times. And you don’t send somebody to war and have them killing people and then think they’re coming back okay,” she said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do much to help them, did we?”
Jackson, 59, who served 16 years in the Maine Senate and previously worked as a logger, has struggled to replicate Platner’s crowd energy since taking over the campaign with roughly 100 days until Election Day. He finished third in the state’s Democratic gubernatorial primary and carries political baggage of his own, including having children with his second cousin and a debate moment where he snapped “shut up” at incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.
Jackson has mostly avoided discussing Platner directly, though he acknowledged the movement’s origins at a September event. “You are right. I didn’t build this movement,” he told a voter. “I’ve been saying that all along. This isn’t about Troy Jackson. But I don’t even think this is about Graham. I think it’s about people across this state that know there’s something fundamentally wrong with the way things are going.”
Left-wing Democrats had pushed for Jackson specifically because of his alignment with Platner’s politics and his endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.
Not all Democrats mourn Platner’s exit. Beckett Stratter, a Colby University student who votes in Wisconsin, said he was “very, very anti-Graham Platner” from the start. “I’ve never met anyone who had Nazi tattoos for 30 years and turned out to be a good person,” Stratter said.
Platner’s downfall followed a rapid ascent. The oyster farmer and veteran billed himself as a fighter for working-class Mainers and crushed establishment favorite former Gov. Janet Mills in the Democratic primary. For a time, he appeared poised to become the first Democrat to win a Maine Senate race since 1988, with backers convinced he could finally unseat Collins in the blue-tinted state.
The rape accusation proved fatal despite Platner’s vehement denial. Racicot alleged that Platner, drunk, broke into her home in the middle of the night in 2021 and forced himself on her. He withdrew as party support collapsed.
Even before Racicot came forward, Platner had survived an extraordinary run of revelations: a Nazi tattoo on his chest, confirmation that he cheated on his wife of three years, a dark and sexually explicit Reddit history, and allegations of physical roughness with former girlfriends. Primary voters had largely shrugged off each disclosure.
Platner has kept a low profile since suspending his campaign in July. Plans for a Labor Day appearance fell through, and he remains politically toxic. A Post reporter spotted him working on the water this week. “What the f–k does it look like I’m up to? I’m being an oyster farmer,” he said, referring to his work supplying his mother’s restaurant.
Heck, when pressed on her support for Jackson as the replacement, offered only reluctant backing. “I’m going to vote for him,” she said after hesitating. Jackson later gave her a shoutout during the town hall, suggesting prior familiarity between the two.
Jackson currently holds a 1.2 percentage point lead over Collins in the RealClearPolitics polling average, making the race one of the nation’s most competitive Senate contests and a crucial Democratic pickup opportunity.