Democrat Rep Dean says Platner disqualified himself in Maine Senate race

As Democrats scrambled to abandon embattled candidate Graham Platner after a rape allegation against him torpedoed his insurgent campaign, one progressive lawmaker said it "was a very easy call" to never back him in the first place. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., had no endorsement to rescind, having been among a small handful of Democrats who publicly warned against Platner amid growing controversies, even as much of the party continued embracing him. "I’m relieved. I'm sure Mainers are relieved. He disqualified himself," Dean told Fox News Digital in an interview after Platner announced his intent to drop out of Maine’s Senate race. He officially dropped out Friday evening. "Suspending his campaign, he took no accounting for himself," Dean said, referring to Platner's 11-minute exit video, in which he fiercely denied the allegations and blamed the Democratic establishment for forcing him from the race.