Scoop: Platner privately told staff he'll formally exit Senate race Monday

According to Axios, Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner privately told his staff he plans to formally file paperwork ending his campaign on Monday — which happens to be the legal deadline for stepping aside in time for Democrats to name a replacement. Platner announced he was suspending his bid Wednesday night, but Maine's Secretary of State says no official withdrawal has actually been received; a public declaration, they note, isn't the same as signing the paperwork. That gap has some Democrats nervous, with one center-left strategist telling Axios people may be underrating the odds Platner simply doesn't file. Meanwhile, the party is already sparring over how to choose his successor. Maine Democrats say Platner's team will have no role, and plan a nominating convention of roughly six hundred delegates — a process progressives worry is too insider-driven and some moderates fear could hand power to the left.

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