The Maine Senate race has turned into a disaster for Democrats after more allegations, this time alleging rape, were dropped against Graham Platner yesterday afternoon. While Platner has not dropped out of the race yet and has not indicated what he plans to do, several prominent Democrats have withdrawn their endorsements and called on him to drop out.
That means Democrats have to find someone to run against Republican incumbent Susan Collins. Governor Janet Mills dropped out of the race ages ago, not seeing a path to victory, so it's unclear if she'd return to try again. But there's a report that Democrats are looking at Nirva Shah, the former Biden administration CDC Director.
I’m told Nirav Shah is getting a lot of encouraging calls about being a potential replacement for Graham Platner, per a source familiar.
— Alex Seitz-Wald (@aseitzwald) July 6, 2026
While this is only speculation at this point, it would follow the Democrats' disturbing pattern of ignoring the will of the voters and installing a candidate in a very un-democratic fashion.
Shouldn’t it go to the second place finisher in the primary?
— Leonard Goodnight (@LennyGoodnight) July 6, 2026
Shah wasn't even on the primary ballot.
According to NPR, Platner received almost 80 percent of the primary vote, Janet Mills was a distant second at just under 20 percent, and David Costello earned 8.3 percent of the vote.
Shah came in 2nd vs Platner sycophant Jackson 5th. pic.twitter.com/KdEqdyasoa
— LyftLady11 (@LyftLady11) July 7, 2026
Yeah, but that's the governor's race, not the Senate.
So would this be ANOTHER Democrat election without a primary? I see a disturbing trend here. I thought we were a government for the people, by the people. Apparently some people don’t.
— DJD (@Dale1955jd) July 6, 2026
We all know Democrats really don't like democracy. After all, President Trump won the popular vote in 2024, but they still acted like he stole the election.
Biden's former CDC Director. Absolute perfection. https://t.co/5sTQh3idlX
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) July 6, 2026
Absolute perfection. Remember how insane the CDC was under Biden? How they tried to mandate the COVID vaccine for every working American?
Good time.
This could actually cause some problems, Shah was the gov candidate who all of the more prog options co-endorsed against. He’s also never won an election before. If he’s selected it would be a clear slap in the face to the voters who made it clear they desired a prog option. https://t.co/wCL2mw0Usx
— ettingermentum (@ettingermentum) July 6, 2026
It's clear the Democrats don't care about the will of the voters.
If Shah is the nominee, Collins will win. https://t.co/2wKIqXeOfx
— JulesNader386 (@Julesnader386) July 7, 2026
That's fine with us. If Platner is the nominee, Collins will win. That's why the Democrats are trying to oust Platner.
And they tried this with Kamala Harris in 2024. Remember how that worked out for them?