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“For the movement to continue, it can’t be me,” he said. “For that reason, we are suspending campaign operations.”

In the video, Platner vehemently stood by his assertion that the accusations were “not remotely true”, claiming they were driven by “large forces ... working against [him] personally”.

“This is all false,” Platner said of the allegations. “The things that have been claimed did not happen. It’s not real.”

The oyster farmer and marine veteran – whose populist platform packed town halls, raised millions early in the race, earned support from progressive stars like Bernie Sanders and built enough momentum to force his primary challenger, Governor Janet Mills, to suspend her bid – has been dogged by controversy since entering the Senate contest last year, including over his conduct in past romantic relationships, his social media history and a since-removed tattoo of a Nazi symbol.

Platner faced fresh scrutiny on Monday after a woman who dated him made allegations in Politico that he forced her to have sex nearly five years ago despite repeated objections. Jenny Racicot, 41, said she had an on‑and‑off relationship with Platner for more than two years. She alleges that in late 2021, an intoxicated Platner entered her home uninvited and forced himself on her. She said she cut off contact after the encounter.

Platner rejected the allegations in a video posted on social media on Monday. “Any accusation of non-consensual behavior is categorically false,” he said in a direct‑to‑camera message. While calling the reporting inaccurate, he said his campaign was “mindful of the political reality” the accusation “will inflict”.

“We are taking the time to reflect on the best path forward for the state that I love, the people that I love, the movement I belong to,” he added after the report.

But the allegations quickly prompted Democrats, including their Senate leader, Chuck Schumer, to call on Platner to drop out of the race. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee – the party’s main vehicle for fundraising, recruitment, and helping to elect Senate candidates – said it would not spend money on the Maine race if Platner did not withdraw his candidacy.

Platner’s rise, built on anti‑oligarchy messaging and a populist platform, propelled him to a comfortable primary win after Mills exited the race amid his surging popularity.

But the scandals began early – and never stopped. Racist, sexist and homophobic Reddit posts surfaced, which the former marine attributed to PTSD from his military service. Platner then attempted to pre-empt opposition research by revealing he had covered a tattoo that closely resembled a Totenkopf, a widely recognized Nazi symbol.

More reports emerged shortly before the June Democratic primary: first sexually explicit texts with women outside his marriage, then allegations of abusive and “unsettling” behavior in past relationships. One former partner, a Republican operative, alleged Platner twisted her arm behind her back and held her in a room, and said Platner knew his tattoo was a Nazi emblem despite claiming otherwise. Platner denied the allegations at the time, calling them “politically motivated”.

The scrutiny resumed with Politico’s report on Monday, and continued on Tuesday after the Washington Post reported that an ex‑girlfriend alleged that Platner removed condoms without her consent during sex on at least six occasions.

Democrats have viewed Maine as a crucial opportunity to pick up a US Senate seat and regain control of the upper chamber in US Congress. The party’s candidate will face five‑term Republican incumbent Susan Collins.

Platner amassed a slate of high‑profile endorsements throughout the race. Bernie Sanders, the independent senator from Vermont, was among the first to back him, followed by the Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren, Martin Heinrich and Ruben Gallego. All of the lawmakers rescinded their endorsements after the latest allegations.

Platner’s withdrawal triggers a tight window – until 27 July – for Democrats to select a replacement candidate under Maine law.

An array of Democrats have already expressed interest in the nomination. Troy Jackson, a former state senator who ran for governor earlier this year, quickly announced his candidacy shortly after Platner’s campaign suspension, as did Dan Kleban, the owner of Maine Beer Company who ran in the Senate primary before dropping out before the vote. Other possible contenders include the Maine secretary of state, Shenna Bellows; former Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention director Nirav Shah; state legislator Valli Geiger; and ex-congressional aide Jordan Wood.

The Maine Democratic party said on Wednesday it planned to hold a nominating convention to select a new candidate.

“There is an unprecedented amount of energy and enthusiasm among Maine Democrats, driven in part by many of the dedicated volunteers and supporters who were inspired by Graham Platner’s campaign,” party officials said in a statement issued less than an hour before Platner suspended his campaign.

“We look forward to coming together and harnessing that energy around our new nominee as we work to defeat Susan Collins in November.”

Platner, in his Wednesday video, said the process to select a new candidate should reflect the will of his primary voters. Earlier reports indicated Platner was hoping to influence who would replace him in the general election.

“The next Democratic senator for Maine needs to belong to the people of Maine,” he said.

Republicans, meanwhile, immediately took Platner’s departure from the race as an opportunity to attack Democrats.

“Maine Democrats elected a rapist Nazi to be their nominee for Senate, and regardless of who they anoint next, Susan Collins will be re-elected in November,” said Samantha Cantrell, regional press secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

“Democrats rolled in the mud with Platner, and now they are completely stained by their association with this sick monster,” said the Republican National Committee chair, Joe Gruters. %!s()

Democratic Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner said he intends to exit the race on Wednesday after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021, causing an insurmountable rupture with his closest allies. 

Platner's fall is a seismic shift in the 2026 midterm elections, as Democrats try to wrest control of Congress from Republicans and weaken President Donald Trump's grip on power. Flipping the Maine seat held by five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins is critical to those ambitions, and Democrats in the state must now field a new candidate with less than four months until Election Day.

Platner, an oysterman and military veteran, said on Wednesday that he is "suspending campaign operations" after his support dried up and national fundraisers threatened to direct money away from his campaign.  

"We believe that for the movement to continue, it can't be me," Platner said. "I intend to file my paperwork to withdraw. The process needs to assure that what comes next is reflective of the Mainers who, on June 9, turned out and showed that they are desperate for a different kind of politics."

In a direct-to-camera video, Platner said that his decision to withdraw "most certainly is not" an admission of guilt, but a reflection of the reality he now faces. He has denied claims made by Jenny Racicot, who dated Platner and told Politico he forced himself on her in 2021 while heavily intoxicated.

In reference to his campaign, he said in the video: "We did it the right way, we built a campaign, we engaged in electoral politics, we motivated people, we banded together. We did it the way we are told we are supposed to make change, and we won, and now they are not going to let us have it. Not if it's me."

His fall from grace is a tremendous swing-and-miss by Democrats, who once hoped the gruff, progressive Mainer could help the party reconnect with disaffected blue-collar voters who gravitated toward Trump. And his campaign's implosion now puts Democrats' hopes for Senate control in jeopardy by pushing a must-win state into harder-to-reach territory.

Members of the Maine Democratic Party voted Wednesday night to hold a nominating convention to select a replacement for Platner. The party said it will provide more information on the convention in the coming days. Maine law stipulates that the party can replace him on the ballot by July 27. 

Multiple candidates have already hopped into the race to replace him, though the process for nominating a new candidate remains largely unclear. 

Dan Kleban, the founder of Maine Beer Company who ran for the seat in the Democratic primary earlier this year, said on Wednesday he will try again for the nomination. 

"We're all sick and tired of a system that's been rigged by corporate interests, and we've had enough meddling from Washington establishment insiders and New York City consultants trying to dictate who represents us," Kleban said. "I'm ready to fight for Mainers and bring a new generation of leadership to Washington."

Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who recently lost the primary for the state's gubernatorial election, also said she would consider entering the contest. Bellows ran against Collins in 2014 and got blown out by more than 30 percentage points, but the ground is much more favorable for a Democrat this cycle. 

Nirav Shah, a public health official and the runner-up for governor, has also expressed interest in entering the ring. 

And Troy Jackson, a former Maine Senate leader from rural Aroostook County who was a close Platner ally until the latest allegations, has already created an exploratory bid to potentially replace him on the top of the ticket. 

Jackson publicized a poll on Wednesday that showed him with a lead over Collins, and most readily fits the mold that Platner built with his candidacy. %!s()

Changes in the chemical makeup of cells can indicate the onset and progression of disorders such as neurodegenerative diseases, making it important to examine such changes in detail while focusing on the smallest possible areas. In the past, ambient sampling and ionization methods using electrospray ionization (ESI) for mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) have been developed.

ESI-based MSI uses a small probe to deliver solvent (a liquid that dissolves and releases chemical components) to a cell, detaching molecules that become charged and are then separated and counted in a mass spectrometer. Because mammalian cells can be as small as 10 micrometers, this imaging technique must be able to produce pixel sizes smaller than that.

"One issue with mass spectrometry imaging is that, as we focus on smaller and smaller regions within the cell, we require increasingly high sensitivity and stability," says lead author Takao Yasuda.

To address this issue, the researchers looked at ways to improve the performance of an ESI-based MSI system named tapping-mode scanning probe ESI (t-SPESI), which was originally invented by corresponding author Yoichi Otsuka. In the t-SPESI process, an extremely fine fused silica probe "taps" the cell repeatedly, alternately delivering a solvent and extracting components for analysis. This tapping motion enables the use of an extremely small amount of solvent to examine smaller areas but requires high sensitivity and good stability.

"Two factors currently limit the performance of this technique," senior author Otsuka says. "These are the long pathway between the probe and the mass spectrometer, and the tendency for cell components to adhere to the probe surface over time."

On this basis, the research team achieved higher sensitivity by miniaturizing the complex analytical apparatus, reducing device mass by 45% and ion pathway length by 56%. Shortening the tube more than doubled the signal intensity. To ensure long-term stability by reducing the adhesion of sample to the probe, the silica probe surface was coated with a fluorine-containing chemical, similar to a nonstick coating on a kitchen implement.

As a test of this new system, mouse brain tissue samples were analyzed, and the team successfully visualized lipid distributions, including lipid classes previously implicated in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, with a pixel size of 5 micrometers, corresponding to fine tissue structures, and with good stability.

The team expects that examining cells within tissues using this technology will provide new insights for disease research and treatment. With further optimization, such as of probe size, even better performance could be achieved, helping future studies uncover the mechanisms behind many disorders and advancing understanding of them.

Publication details

Takao Yasuda et al, Development of a Tapping-Mode Scanning Probe Electrospray Ionization Platform for High-Sensitivity and Long-Term Stability in Single-Cell Mass Spectrometry Imaging of Tissue, Analytical Chemistry (2026). DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.6c02386

Who's behind this story?

Lisa Lock

BA art history, MA material culture. Former museum editor, paramedic, and transplant coordinator. Editing for Science X since 2021. Full profile →

Andrew Zinin

Master's in physics with research experience. Long-time science news enthusiast. Plays key role in Science X's editorial success. Full profile →

Citation: New probe could help trace Alzheimer's-linked lipids one cell at a time (2026, July 8) retrieved 13 July 2026 from https://phys.org/news/2026-07-probe-alzheimer-linked-lipids-cell.html

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