Millions in Dem ad money vanished from Platner race days before rape allegation doomed Senate bid
Two Democratic-aligned political groups shifted millions of dollars in planned Maine Senate ad reservations days before a rape allegation against former Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner became public, handing Republicans a new line of attack over whether party leaders had already lost confidence in his campaign.
WinSenate removed more than $6.2 million in Maine Senate ad reservations, including $5.9 million in broadcast reservations from July 7 through Aug. 31 and $330,000 in cable reservations that had been set to begin June 30, AdImpact, a leading ad-tracking and analytics firm that monitors political advertising, reported July 2. AdImpact also said a separate $240,000 in digital spending shifted from Majority Forward.
The ad shift came roughly one week before one of Platner’s ex-girlfriends accused him of rape, though Majority Forward denied the shift was due to recent campaign turmoil.
The rape allegation reported by Politico, which Platner denied, ended a campaign already weakened by months of controversy. Platner had faced scrutiny since October 2025 over comments from a deleted Reddit account and a Nazi-linked tattoo he acquired while serving in the armed forces. Pressure intensified June 4 after The New York Times reported that multiple ex-girlfriends described him as emotionally abusive, which he also denied.
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"D.C. Democrats are furious that Graham Platner went down swinging with a lengthy swan song calling out their ‘political establishment’ coup to silence grassroots progressives," one GOP operative told Fox News Digital. "Chuck Schumer’s ad spending proves he only discovered moral clarity when his midterm strategy was on life support."
The funding for the ads was rerouted to a different Democratic committee to reserve advertising space in Maine between July 7 and Aug. 31, according to AdImpact.
Majority Forward denied the spending shift was connected to Platner’s campaign turmoil.
"Majority Forward moved its (c)4 spending to another entity, a fairly common practice with issue advocacy campaigns," a spokeswoman for the organization told Fox News Digital. "This change was not connected to recent campaign events."
WinSenate and Majority Forward are closely tied to the Democratic Senate campaign apparatus.
Both organizations are affiliated with Senate Majority PAC, a wealthy political committee run by allies of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. WinSenate has historically been funded by Senate Majority PAC, while Majority Forward has shared staff and costs with the committee.
Prior to the rape allegation, Schumer avoided commenting on Platner's controversies, stating that he was committed to flipping Maine's Senate seat. After the story broke, Schumer said he was "disturbed" and demanded that Platner "immediately withdraw" from the race.
"What did they know and when did they know it?" journalist Chuck Ross wrote of the ad cancellations on X.
Upon dropping out of the race on Wednesday, Platner claimed that the Democratic establishment sabotaged his campaign.
"It's not the false allegations though that have brought us to where we are," Platner said of the rape allegations, which he denies, during his concession speech on Wednesday. "It's the fact that they are being used by the political establishment to put structural pressure on us … Those in power who have the ability to do so are using these allegations as an excuse to take away all of the things that we need to run a campaign."
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Platner underwent an unusually short vetting process, a decision some argue allowed a candidate with significant baggage to make it much further than he should have. While most candidate background checks in key races often cost tens of thousands of dollars and take weeks to complete, Platner’s lasted just three days and cost just over $6,000, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Democrats in Maine plan to hold a nominating convention to determine who will replace Platner to face off against incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins on the ballot in November. While independents could vote in Maine's Democratic primary, the convention will only feature Democratic delegates.
WinSenate and the Platner campaign did not respond to requests for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Thursday.