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Patriotic Millionaires’ Founder and President, Erica Payne, released the following statement on Tuesday, July 7th, following the publication of a POLITICO story about a woman accusing Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner of sexual assault:
“The sexual assault allegations against Graham Platner are credible and extremely disturbing. So much so, that we have decided to formally rescind the Patriotic Millionaires’ endorsement of Platner’s campaign.
This choice was a simple one to make. A candidate’s character and integrity will always, without exception, matter more to us than any position they take on our issues, and we do not want our mission tarnished by further association with someone like Platner.
If Platner drops out of the race in the next week—and he most certainly should—Maine Democrats will have until July 27th to replace him on the ballot. We will be monitoring events closely. For now, we hope the Democratic Party will take inspiration from the electric drive for economic justice we’ve seen during this election cycle and nominate a replacement with strong moral fortitude who also has the values to be a champion on our issues.
If you would like to learn more about the candidates who might replace Platner on the ballot, please see this Newsweek article. One of the potential contenders, Troy Jackson, spoke at our Spring Symposium, “HOW WE WIN, Tax the Rich, and Save the World.”
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