New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has called for Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner to withdraw from the race following a rape accusation.
Mamdani stated Tuesday that Platner should end his bid for the US Senate seat after the candidate was accused of rape by an ex-girlfriend. "I believe that it’s time for him to drop out of the race," Mamdani told reporters. "I think the focus of today should be to respond to the gravity of what so many of us have read and I think the only appropriate response is for the campaign to come to an end."
Platner, an oyster farmer, had gained traction in the Maine race with an unapologetically leftist campaign. Mamdani noted that he shares a key progressive strategist, Morris Katz, with Platner.
Mamdani's call follows similar actions by other prominent Democrats, including New York Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, who rescinded their endorsements of Platner and urged him to drop out after the accusation was reported by Politico.