By Ahmed Aboulenein
WASHINGTON, July 19 (Reuters) – Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows said on Sunday she is withdrawing from the Democratic race for U.S. Senate, narrowing the field days before the party picks a nominee to challenge Republican Senator Susan Collins in November.
Bellows said in a statement she would focus on her role as secretary of state and urged Democrats to unify quickly to defeat Collins. Her exit follows Democrats’ scramble to regroup after their nominee, Graham Platner, abandoned the race after a sexual assault allegation.
• Bellows said she could best serve the country by focusing on her current role, citing what she called President Donald Trump’s accelerating attacks on democracy.
• She said the compressed nominating process left Democrats no time to waste in uniting to beat Collins.
• Platner, a populist, suspended his campaign on July 8 after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her while dating five years ago, ending a run marked by personal controversies.
• Platner denies the allegation but said pressure from state and national Democrats made it impossible to continue.
• He had won the nomination in June with more than 70% of the primary vote after his main rival, Governor Janet Mills, suspended her campaign in April.
• The state’s Democratic Party has until July 27 to name a replacement by convention.
• Republicans hold a 53-47 majority, and flipping Maine is critical to Democrats’ path to a majority in the midterm elections.
• Collins, a top Democratic target, is seen as the most vulnerable incumbent Republican senator in 2026 and is the only Republican up in a state former Vice President Kamala Harris won in 2024.
• Maine leans Democratic; Harris defeated Trump there by about seven points in 2024, but Collins has held her seat since 1997 and Democrats have not won a Senate race in the state since 1988.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
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