Will Platner controversy sink Democrats in a crucial U.S. House showdown?

EXCLUSIVE - AUGUSTA, Maine - Graham Platner is gone, but the trail of debris left from the mounting controversies that brought down his nearly year-long insurgent Senate campaign is giving Republicans ammunition to use against a Democrat on the ballot in another equally crucial midterm race in Maine.

Former two-term Maine Gov. Paul LePage, the GOP nominee in the high-stakes battle for the state's 2nd Congressional District, one of roughly two-dozen races that may determine the House balance of power, says that Matt Dunlap, the Democratic Party's nominee, "miscalculated" by aligning himself with Platner.

LePage is aiming to flip the Democrat-controlled open seat in a mostly rural district President Donald Trump carried in the past three presidential elections. And the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is heavily targeting the race as it works to hold onto its razor-thin House majority in the midterms.

"Way, way too close to Platner. Way too close to Bernie. Way too close to AOC. That whole gang," LePage said of Dunlap as he spoke exclusively with Fox News Digital on Tuesday and pointed to Platner as well as progressive champions Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

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Dunlap campaign manager Harry Burke, firing back, called LePage's criticism "desperate and weak."

Platner, a populist Democrat backed last September by Sanders and later by other top progressives, was challenging longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a combustible and very expensive race in Maine, which is one of a handful that will determine if the GOP holds onto its slim Senate majority in November's midterm elections.

Platner's exit from the race came days after an explosive report contained an allegation of rape from a woman he previously dated. It was only after that report when a chorus of calls emerged from top Democrats across the country for him to immediately drop out.

But Platner, the combat veteran and oyster farmer whose campaign caught fire, steamrolling the Democratic establishment, had already been forced on defense ahead of his primary victory last month.

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Past inflammatory online comments made on a now-deleted Reddit account came back to haunt him at the same time he was already reeling from revelations of a now covered-up tattoo on his chest that resembled a Nazi symbol. Then reports that Platner exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women while married came right before allegations from ex-girlfriends of a history of rape fantasies, heavy drinking and violent episodes were made public.

Platner repeatedly called the allegations of violence untrue and dismissed his tattoo and Reddit posts as actions taken by a younger man who has now changed.

And addressing the latest rape allegation, a visibly irritated Platner claimed in his campaign suspension video last week: "This is all false. The things that have been claimed did not happen. It is not real."

Republicans see an opportunity to use Platner's toxic baggage as a cudgel against some Democrats on the ballot in key races this year — especially those who once backed the Maine candidate or defended him against previous allegations.

"Every Democrat that endorsed Graham Platner endorsed a rapist, and every Democrat that stayed silent was complicit," Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters argued in a statement last week. "Democrats rolled in the mud with Platner, and now they are completely stained by their association with this sick monster."

Dunlap endorsed Platner and appeared with him at a campaign event days before Maine's June 9 primary.

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"Out of touch freak Matt Dunlap might be okay with Nazi lovers and men who abuse women, but in November, he'll see for himself that Mainers aren't. Dunlap's embrace of this vile human is disqualifying," NRCC Spokeswoman Maureen O'Toole charged last week.

A week ago, amid a wave of Democrats calling on Platner to call it quits, Dunlap said in a statement, "The allegations reported today are serious, and they deserve to be treated with the gravity they warrant. As such, I am calling on Graham Platner to withdraw from the race for Senate so we can all come together behind a nominee who can successfully carry the torch in November."

Burke, Dunlap's campaign manager, is pushing back against the GOP's incoming fire.

"Paul LePage is an absolute fraud. He abandoned Maine, moved to Florida, and pocketed a Florida homestead tax break every year since he left," Burke charged, as he pointed to past scrutiny LePage faced after he and his wife utilized a Florida homestead tax break on their Ormond Beach property for several years.

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Burke argued that "LePage might as well start packing his bags for Florida now — these so-called attacks are desperate and weak."

Democrats also question how effective any concerted push by the GOP to use Platner as ammunition may be with voters this autumn.

"Battleground district voters don't care about Graham Platner, CJ Warnke, communications director at the House Majority PAC, the top super PAC supporting congressional Democrats, told Fox News Digital in a statement.

Warnke, pivoting to affordability, argued that voters "care about how Republicans broke their promise lower costs by passing a toxic agenda of tariffs, new wars, and devastating health care cuts. Meanwhile, Democrats are running on making life more affordable and rooting out corruption, and in November we're going to win."

Three top nonpartisan political handicappers currently give the advantage in the Maine congressional showdown to LePage.

The Cook Political Report and Inside Elections rank the race as Likely Republican, with Sabato's Crystal Ball at the Center for Politics rates it as Leans Republican.