Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner said Wednesday he was suspending his campaign.

Platner’s decision comes after an exclusive report from Politico detailing the allegations by Jenny Racicot, 41, that Platner forced her to have sex despite repeated objections.

Racicot told the outlet she had an on-and-off relationship with Platner for more than two years. In late 2021, Racicot said Platner entered her home uninvited and forced himself on her while he was drunk. Racicot said she terminated contact after the encounter.

Platner denied the allegations, telling Politico, “these allegations are troubling, serious, and false. Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically untrue.”

The report cited Racicot’s emails with a therapist, accounts from a man Racicot confided in, and messages in which she warned an acquaintance about Platner before he ran for Senate.

In a video posted to social media on Wednesday Graham announced that he is suspending his campaign for Senate.

“For the movement to continue, it can’t be me,” he said. “For that reason, we are suspending campaign operations,” he said.

Platner also doubled down on his assertion that the accusation is “not remotely true” and was driven by “large forces working against [him] personally”.

“This is all false,” Platner said of the allegations. “The things that have been claimed did not happen. It’s not real.”

“I learned about this 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,” he said. “Accusations are supposed to be the beginning of things, not the end.”

Platner’s withdrawal gives Democrats a narrow window – until 27 July –to select a replacement candidate under Maine law to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Former state Senate President Troy Jackson filed paperwork Tuesday to replace Platner. Nirav Shah, a former director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, state Rep. Valli Geiger and state House Speaker Ryan Fecteau have all signaled they are interested in replacing Platner.