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By Mary Ellen McIntire and Daniela Altimari

Maine Democrats have less than three weeks to find a challenger to Sen. Susan Collins after Graham Platner said Wednesday night he would suspend his campaign while continuing to deny an allegation of sexual assault. 

So far, an array of candidates who unsuccessfully sought other Maine offices this year have put their names forward as options for the nominating convention the state Democratic Party has said it plans to hold to pick Platner’s replacement. At the time of writing, party officials had yet to announce details on what that process might look like.

Nirav Shah, the former state public health official who placed second in last month’s gubernatorial primary, announced his campaign Thursday morning. So did Jordan Wood, a former Capitol Hill staffer who ran for Senate last year before shifting to the battleground 2nd District, where he placed third in the primary. Former USAID official David Costello, who finished third in last month’s Senate primary, told The New York Times he was in as well. And Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who lost to Collins in 2014, entered the fray Thursday afternoon.

They join former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, who also ran for governor, and Maine Beer Company founder Dan Kleban, who briefly ran for Senate last year before backing Gov. Janet Mills in the race. 

Many progressives are lining up behind Jackson, who had campaigned alongside Platner, and are urging state officials to honor the progressive support Platner garnered.

“Maine’s progressives won the primary by a historic margin, on Medicare for All, on ending corporate money in politics, on ending forever wars,” said Joseph Geevarghese, the executive director of the Bernie Sanders-founded group Our Revolution. “That result doesn’t disappear because one candidate is gone.”

But Jackson isn’t the only candidate saying he would support those policies.

“I will fight for Medicare for All because nobody in the wealthiest country on earth should go bankrupt over a medical bill. I will fight to make billionaires and the biggest corporations finally pay their fair share. I will fight to rein in ICE and end the targeting of our immigrant neighbors. And I will fight to end Trump’s reckless foreign wars,” Shah said in a statement.

Wood also said he would be a senator who fights “to stop ICE from terrorizing our neighbors, pass Medicare for All, and ban billionaires from buying our elections versus one who is merely ‘concerned’ while it all happens.”

He also warned national Democrats not to get involved in the nominating process. 

“Maine doesn’t need Washington insiders picking our senator,” he said.

Starting gate

#MISEN: Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow dropped out of the Democratic primary for Senate, leaving a two-way race between Rep. Haley Stevens and former public health official Abdul El-Sayed that pits the party establishment against the progressive left. 

Campaigner in chief: President Donald Trump’s midterm campaign schedule so far lags behind his 2018 effort, at least based on how many events he’s held to boost Republican candidates in close races, our colleague John T. Bennett reports. 

McConnell mystery: The lack of transparency around former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s hospitalization has reignited a debate over lawmakers’ medical privacy and has fed misinformation, Roll Call’s Savannah Behrmann writes. 

RIP: Former Rep. Bill Archer, a Texas Republican who spent three terms chairing the powerful Ways and Means Committee beginning in the mid-1990s, died Saturday at 98. As our colleague Jacob Fulton reports, Archer came to Congress in 1971 after he was elected to fill future President George H. W. Bush’s Houston-area House seat.

ICYMI

Ad watch: One Nation, the issue advocacy arm of Senate Republicans’ top super PAC, is kicking off an $11 million ad campaign featuring an Iowa farmer praising Senate hopeful Ashley Hinson’s efforts in Congress to eliminate the “death tax.” 

“Show Me”  the money: New Democrat Majority super PAC launched a $1 million ad buy in Missouri’s 1st District targeting Cori Bush, who is attempting a comeback after Democratic Rep. Wesley Bell ousted her in a 2024 primary. The ad will run across broadcast, cable, streaming and digital platforms.

Redistricting 2028 : Maryland state lawmakers will return for a special session next month to weigh sending voters a constitutional amendment that could pave the way for state Democrats to redraw Maryland’s congressional map next cycle. 

DCCC moves: Manny Rutinel and Cait Conley have been added to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue program, a designation granted to candidates the party committee views as highly competitive and likely to flip Republican-held seats. Rutinel is challenging GOP Rep. Gabe Evans in Colorado’s 8th District while Conley is taking on second-term Republican Mike Lawler in New York’s 17th. Meanwhile, the DCCC also added two Florida seats to its target list: the 16th District being vacated by GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan and the open 22nd District, which state Republicans redrew to become favorable to their party. 

Endorsements: Elect Democratic Women, a PAC founded by Democratic congresswomen, is backing nurse practitioner Kristina Knickerbocker in her bid to unseat Republican Rep. Michael R. Turner in Ohio’s 10th District. The group has also endorsed Army veteran Leela Gray, who’s challenging Republican Anna Paulina Luna in Florida’s 13th District; Conley in New York; and Del. Stacey Plaskett, who’s bidding to become governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Florida Rep. Maxwell Alejandro Frost endorsed two Senate hopefuls staking out the progressive lane in their races: El-Sayed in Michigan and Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan in Minnesota. 

#WIGOV: The crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary in Wisconsin grew a tad thinner this week after Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley dropped out and endorsed Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez. Rep. Tom Tiffany is the front-runner for the Republican nomination in the race to succeed retiring Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. 

What we’re reading

Building a movement: The San Francisco Standard profiles Cheyenne Hunt, the social media influencer, activist and former congressional candidate who has become a key voice amplifying allegations of sexual abuse against both Platner and former California Rep. Eric Swalwell.

Bucking a trend: Two pro-Israel House members lost primaries in New York City last month. But Rep. Ritchie Torres, one of Israel’s fiercest defenders in Congress, managed to notch a resounding primary victory. City & State examines why Torres prevailed.

Rising concerns: CNN talked to Jewish progressives, including Rep. Becca Balint of Vermont and House hopeful Scott Wiener of California, who expressed concern that criticism of the Israeli government has spilled over into antisemitism among some on the left.

Missing in action: Retirements and illnesses continue to hamper the House Republican Conference, The Wall Street Journal writes, and now this “zombie Congress” is threatening Trump’s agenda.

Family ties: Michael Alfonso, who is 26 and running for Congress in Wisconsin, has a powerful supporter: his father-in-law, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. But as The Associated Press reports, that hasn’t stopped Alfonso’s detractors from calling him too young and inexperienced for the job.

The count: 4

That’s how many major-party Senate nominees have dropped out before the general election this century, the latest being Platner, who announced Wednesday he was exiting the race in Maine.

The last Senate nominee to drop out after winning the primary was Democratic appointed Sen. John Walsh of Montana, who ended his bid for a full term in 2014 amid a plagiarism scandal. 

Other major-party Senate nominees to end their reelection bids before the general election include Illinois Republican Jack Ryan in 2004 and New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert G. Torricelli in 2002. 

Of the three earlier races, the withdrawing nominee’s replacement lost the general election in two of them (Walsh and Ryan).

Key race: #AZ01

Candidates: The race for the open seat northeast of Phoenix includes three Republicans: retired NFL kicker and sports commentator Jay Feely, former state Rep. Joseph Chaplik and technology executive John Trobough. On the Democratic side, the primary field consists of former broadcast journalist Marlene Galán-Woods, businessman Rick McCartney, emergency medicine physician and former state Rep. Amish Shah and entrepreneur Jonathan Treble. The primaries take place on July 21.

Why it matters: Republican David Schweikert, who has held this seat since 2011, is running for governor. Feely was initially running for the open, deep-red 5th District but pivoted to the swingier 1st District last year, with Trump’s encouragement. Both Galán-Woods and Shah are making repeat runs: Shah won the Democratic primary in 2024 and went on to lose the general election to Schweikert. 

Cash dash: Feely had about $1.3 million banked at the end of March; Galán-Woods had $826,000; Shah had $707,000 and Chaplik had $266,000. Treble had the most cash on hand with $1.7 million after giving his campaign $1.1 million through March.

Backers: Feely has Trump’s support, providing him with a key edge in the GOP primary. He’s also part of the National Republican Congressional Committee’s MAGA Majority program, which provides GOP contenders in certain swing districts with extra support. And Feely has collected donations from prominent figures in the sports world, including NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Phoenix Suns legend Charles Barkley, The Arizona Republic reports. Among the Democrats, Galán-Woods has picked up endorsements from EMILY’s List, the campaign arms of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and the centrist New Democrat Coalition, as well as Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes and former Gov. Janet Napolitano. 

Shah has the backing of many of his former colleagues in the Legislature, as well as the AAPI Victory Fund and 314 Action, a PAC that supports candidates with science backgrounds.

What they’re saying: Feely has emphasized his ties to Trump and said he was inspired to run by a conversation at Mar-a-Lago while watching a UFC event with the president and Rep. Jim Jordan. Chaplik has touted his legislative experience, including his support for legislation to tighten voting laws, strengthen gun owners’ rights and limit the size and scope of government.

Galán-Woods, a former Republican whose late husband, former state Attorney General Grant Woods, was a lifelong friend and former chief of staff to John McCain, is pitching herself as a center-left Democrat who can flip a swing seat. Shah has touted his experience, noting he’s the only Democrat seeking the seat who has served in elective office. The race has grown increasingly heated, with Galán-Woods accusing Shah of voting with Republicans on key legislation. Shah’s campaign, in turn, has sought to highlight Galán-Woods’ past affiliation with the GOP.

Terrain: Trump carried the district by 3 points in 2024, according to calculations by Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales, but this year’s contest in Arizona’s wealthiest House district will test the president’s current strength among affluent suburban voters. Inside Elections rates the race a Toss Up.

Wild card: Galán-Woods netted a spot on the DCCC’s Red-to-Blue list for promising recruits. But two of the committee’s other picks — California state Assembly Member Jasmeet Bains and Maine state Sen. Joe Baldacci — lost primaries for other battleground seats. Shah dismissed the committee’s decision to back his opponent as “meddling from D.C.”

Coming up

Second-quarter fundraising reports are due next week before 12:01 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday. Congress is also back Monday with plenty on its summer to-do list and a key July 14 hearing featuring Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan. 

Photo finish 

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