{"id":4124,"date":"2026-07-07T19:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T19:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124"},"modified":"2026-07-07T19:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T19:06:16","slug":"sexual-assault-claim-leads-ncs-cooper-to-join-democrats-call-for-platner-withdrawal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124","title":{"rendered":"Sexual assault claim leads NC\u2019s Cooper to join Democrats\u2019 call for Platner withdrawal"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.<\/p>\n

Read our AI Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

Former Gov. Roy Cooper called for a Democrat to withdraw from his Senate campaign in Maine.<\/p>\n

Read more McDonald’s fried apple pie returns to NC after 30+ years. When you can get it<\/a><\/p>\n

Cooper is running to represent North Carolina in the Senate, and his involvement in another race is a rare move, but he joins a growing chorus of Democrats fighting to prevent a scandal-ridden candidate from staying in a race that could affect whether the party can take back control of the upper chamber.<\/p>\n

On Monday afternoon, Politico reported<\/a> that a woman accused Graham Platner, a Democrat from Maine, of sexually assaulting her after he had too much alcohol.<\/p>\n

Platner, a Marine Corps veteran and oyster farmer, immediately denied the accusation.<\/p>\n

But the article adds to a growing list of allegations against Platner including having a Nazi tattoo<\/a>, having affairs while married<\/a>, committing violence against women he dated,<\/a> and posting racist and misogynistic messages online.<\/a><\/p>\n

There were signs prior to Politico\u2019s article dropping that a new scandal was about to come to light. Platner\u2019s campaign began canceling scheduled events for the rest of the week,<\/a> adding to speculation about what was to come. The story broke just after 3:30 p.m.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis goes beyond politics,\u201d Cooper said on social media, around 9 p.m. Monday<\/a>. \u201cThese are disturbing allegations, and I believe Graham Platner should drop out of this race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyler Voigt, state director for conservative advocacy group Americans For Prosperity North Carolina, questioned Cooper\u2019s post online, saying, \u201cTeam Cooper finally found the political spine to say something (after the dam broke and it was politically okay to do so). Was he cool with all of the other stuff, since he didn\u2019t say a peep about it?\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that the timing of Cooper\u2019s post<\/a> was suspicious because it came within a minute of a similar post by former Sen. Sherrod Brown, who is running in Ohio.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid the @dscc<\/a> give the green light for their next man up to knife their guy,\u201d Voigt asked,<\/a> referring to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. \u201cJust very convenient timing of it all, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper didn\u2019t stand on his own in making that call. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who hadn\u2019t originally supported Platner, called on him to immediately drop out.<\/a><\/p>\n

So did Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ruben Gallego and Rep. Ro Khanna, who had all endorsed Platner.<\/p>\n

And offering the biggest blow to Platner\u2019s campaign, both the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and the Senate Majority PAC withdrew support.<\/a><\/p>\n

Republicans currently control the three branches of government, but Democrats hope to at least take back part of the legislative branch.<\/p>\n

In order to control the Senate, Democrats need a net gain of four seats in the midterms. The party was eyeing both Maine and North Carolina as potentially contributing.<\/p>\n

Maine\u2019s Senate seat is currently occupied by Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who is up for reelection.<\/p>\n

Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, currently serves North Carolina in the Senate and opted against running for reelection<\/a> after a public argument with President Donald Trump over legislation Trump championed that would negatively impact the state\u2019s Medicaid recipients.<\/p>\n

Read more How much rain did the Triangle get this week? More storms, rain is possible<\/a><\/p>\n

That left Cooper and former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley, who Trump handpicked to succeed Tillis<\/a>, facing off on the November ballot for Tillis\u2019 seat.<\/p>\n

Cooper has led every poll against Whatley<\/a> since they both entered the race last July, and at times Cooper\u2019s lead has reached double-digits.<\/p>\n

Democrats worry if Platner remains in the race, it could harm their chances of flipping Maine. But if he drops out by July 13, Democrats have the opportunity to run another candidate instead.<\/p>\n

Chris Cooper, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, said the candidacy of Platner has reminded him of North Carolina\u2019s gubernatorial race in 2024 when Republicans wrestled with how to deal with a controversial candidate on the ballot.<\/p>\n

\u201cGraham Platner has now been credibly accused of knowingly having a Nazi-adjacent tattoo \u2026 of not just being a bad boyfriend and having a drinking problem but committing sexual assault,\u201d Chris Cooper said. \u201cSo for Democrats, yes, there is what might happen in the United States Senate, and who might hold control, but I think more important is how do you handle a candidate like this who is so clearly flawed?\u201d<\/p>\n

The candidate in 2024 was former Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who, since becoming a Republican politician, had been known as an outspoken, controversial figure.<\/a> But allegations that he wrote racist and raunchy messages on a porn forum derailed his campaign for governor.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBoth Robinson and Platner posted horrific misogynistic comments on websites,\u201d Chris Cooper said. If you were to compare what Robinson said and what Platner said, they\u2019re really not very dissimilar at all. Their online behavior and their personal decision-making and their misogynistic statements are similar, but Robinson was never credibly accused of sexual assault.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper added that that led Robinson to lose his election against Josh Stein by 13 percentage points.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in a state where a 4% victory would be considered a large one,\u201d Cooper added.<\/p>\n

If Platner were to stay in the race and lose, Chris Cooper said it would make it that much harder on Democrats to flip the Senate.<\/p>\n

\u201cAssuming he loses, it narrows the possibility of a Democratic majority even more, and I think it was still not the most likely outcome,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cI think the most likely outcome all along has been that the Republicans maintain control of the Senate, but it really narrows it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cooper added that it would mean that states like Texas, Iowa and Alaska move from \u201cbeing gravy\u201d to being necessary to have a majority.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the Democrats can hold on to Georgia,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cI think the Democrats are likely to hold on to Michigan even more so now that one of the more moderate candidates pulled out, and so they can sort of focus their efforts, but the map was already tough for Democrats and it just got a lot tougher.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for North Carolina, Cooper said that every forecaster is saying that the race is \u201cin lean Democratic territory.\u201d He added that Whatley can still win, with a long time left until November.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut at the end of the day, we expect Roy Cooper to win this election,\u201d Cooper, who is of no relation to the candidate, said. \u201cIf he doesn\u2019t, that\u2019s a problem for Democrats, but I don\u2019t see a scenario \u2014 and if Roy Cooper loses, North Carolina was not going to be the key to the majority. If he loses, they\u2019ve lost Texas, Iowa, Alaska and perhaps Michigan and Georgia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Fruit recalled at NC Publix grocery stores after stomach illness reports<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roy Cooper called on Graham Platner to quit the Maine Senate race after sexual assault and other allegations, as Democrats scramble to protect their chances.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-todays-edition"],"yoast_head":"\nSexual assault claim leads NC\u2019s Cooper to join Democrats\u2019 call for Platner withdrawal - Durham Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sexual assault claim leads NC\u2019s Cooper to join Democrats\u2019 call for Platner withdrawal - Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Roy Cooper called on Graham Platner to quit the Maine Senate race after sexual assault and other allegations, as Democrats scramble to protect their chances.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Durham Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T19:06:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"headline\":\"Sexual assault claim leads NC\u2019s Cooper to join Democrats\u2019 call for Platner withdrawal\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T19:06:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124\"},\"wordCount\":1168,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/3a9e9a879d5de4acd99404c11e981b7f.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Read today's Edition\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124\",\"name\":\"Sexual assault claim leads NC\u2019s Cooper to join Democrats\u2019 call for Platner withdrawal - Durham Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/3a9e9a879d5de4acd99404c11e981b7f.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T19:06:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/3a9e9a879d5de4acd99404c11e981b7f.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/3a9e9a879d5de4acd99404c11e981b7f.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":674,\"caption\":\"BLUE HILL, MAINE - JUNE 9: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at his Primary Election event on June 9, 2026 in Blue Hill, Maine. Platner is the presumptive Democratic nominee and will face incumbent Sen. Collins (R-ME) for Maine's U.S. Senate seat in the general election. (Photo by CJ Gunther\\\/Getty Images)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?p=4124#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sexual assault claim leads NC\u2019s Cooper to join Democrats\u2019 call for Platner withdrawal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Durham Moving Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/durhammovinghub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sexual assault claim leads NC\u2019s Cooper to join Democrats\u2019 call for Platner withdrawal - Durham Moving Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sexual assault claim leads NC\u2019s Cooper to join Democrats\u2019 call for Platner withdrawal - Durham Moving Hub","og_description":"Roy Cooper called on Graham Platner to quit the Maine Senate race after sexual assault and other allegations, as Democrats scramble to protect their chances.","og_url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124","og_site_name":"Durham Moving Hub","article_published_time":"2026-07-07T19:06:16+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"headline":"Sexual assault claim leads NC\u2019s Cooper to join Democrats\u2019 call for Platner withdrawal","datePublished":"2026-07-07T19:06:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124"},"wordCount":1168,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3a9e9a879d5de4acd99404c11e981b7f.jpg","articleSection":["Read today's Edition"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124","name":"Sexual assault claim leads NC\u2019s Cooper to join Democrats\u2019 call for Platner withdrawal - Durham Moving Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3a9e9a879d5de4acd99404c11e981b7f.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-07T19:06:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3a9e9a879d5de4acd99404c11e981b7f.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/3a9e9a879d5de4acd99404c11e981b7f.jpg","width":1200,"height":674,"caption":"BLUE HILL, MAINE - JUNE 9: Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner speaks at his Primary Election event on June 9, 2026 in Blue Hill, Maine. Platner is the presumptive Democratic nominee and will face incumbent Sen. Collins (R-ME) for Maine's U.S. Senate seat in the general election. (Photo by CJ Gunther\/Getty Images)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?p=4124#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sexual assault claim leads NC\u2019s Cooper to join Democrats\u2019 call for Platner withdrawal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/","name":"Durham Moving Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bf1f081e7f06a3ab66052e5f6015fd85","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/durhammovinghub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/durhammovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}