WASHINGTON - Graham Platner, a scandal-plagued Democratic Senate nominee whose insurgent rise had drawn comparisons to US President Donald Trump, ended his campaign on July 8 after a rape allegation threatened to derail one of his party’s best chances of flipping a Republican-held seat.

Platner, a Marine veteran, oysterman and political newcomer, won June’s Democratic primary in the north-eastern state of Maine to face Republican Senator Susan Collins in November’s midterm elections.

His withdrawal gives Maine Democrats only days to regroup in a race central to the party’s hopes of regaining control of the US Senate.

“We are suspending campaign operations,” Platner said in a video posted on X. “This is incredibly difficult, because I know that some will think it’s an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not.”

“I intend to file my paperwork to withdraw,” he added.

Under Maine law, Democrats can replace Platner on the ballot because he quit before a July 13 deadline.

The state party has until July 27 to choose a new nominee.

The scramble comes after Politico reported on July 6 that Jenny Racicot, a 41-year-old Maine resident who previously dated Platner, accused him of forcing her to have sex in late 2021 despite her repeated objections.

Platner, also 41, strongly denied the allegation, calling it “troubling, serious and false” and saying any accusation of non-consensual behaviour was “categorically untrue.”

But his campaign rapidly lost support across the Democratic Party, from the Washington establishment to progressive lawmakers and activists who had previously defended him.

Senate D...