‘This just isn’t good’: Democrats hold their breath on Platner

The latest accusations against Maine oyster farmer Graham Platner are leaving fellow Democrats in an uncomfortable holding pattern until Tuesday’s primary. Some Democrats are wishcasting that Gov. Janet Mills — who suspended her campaign for Senate in April but is still on the ballot — could pull off a shocking upset in the election. Her allies in recent days have reminded supporters that Mills is on the ballot, but she has done no formal campaigning. Others are putting their hope in an even unlikelier scenario: that Platner will exit the race on his own and allow the state Democratic Party to replace him at its convention in July. Those wanting him out are praying that a significant protest vote emerges in Tuesday’s primary, where Platner is the only serious candidate still in the race. Platner polled at 76 percent to 10 percent for Mills in a University of New Hampshire poll conducted in late May, shortly before the latest allegations, setting a possible bar to measure how well he does on Tuesday. “If we see out of the results on Tuesday that Mills was getting a lot more votes than one would think of somebody who suspended their campaign, I think there's a sign that there's a lot of protest and angst within the primary voters,” said Adam Cote, a longtime Maine Democrat who faced off with Mills in the 2018 gubernatorial primary and has not endorsed in the Senate race. “And that's just the primary voters, that’s not even getting to the general election.” If Platner bleeds a significant number of Democratic voters to Mills it could ramp up pressure on him to drop out of the race, multiple top Democratic strategists told POLITICO on Friday. But such a scenario would also further deepen divisions in a party that needs to be united to defeat GOP Sen. Susan Collins this fall. During an appearance on MSNOW Thursday, Platner denied allegations of violence against an ex-girlfriend and reaffirmed his position in the race, saying he has “not once” considered dropping out. He