The collapse of Graham Platner’s Senate campaign in the wake of a sexual assault allegation has put Democrats in a bind. With Platner out of the race, the party only has until July 27 to find a replacement nominee for November’s election. But Democrats still have a decent chance at unseating Republican Sen. Susan Collins in this crucial midterm contest.

The polling suggests that even before the political earthquake of the sexual assault accusation that Politico first reported — and Platner denied — on Monday, the upstart populist wasn’t showing the kind of strength in the general election that he had shown in the Democratic primary.

Polling expert G. Elliott Morris has observed that Platner had been polling “quite poorly” compared to other Democratic candidates and House and Senate races across the country even before the news came out. A New York Times/Siena poll of likely Maine voters conducted between June 19-26, for instance, found that Platner was leading Collins by just 2 points. Only 45% of Maine voters held a favorable opinion of Platner, while 50% held an unfavorable view. This very well may have been due, at least in part, to his constant aura of controversy. As the Times noted in its write-up of the findings, “a clear majority of registered voters — including 29 percent of his own supporters — say all the controversies make them question whether they can support him.” That relentless stream of scandals could have dampened turnout or deterred swing voters in the election.

Fresh energy from a broadly appealing progressive Democrat nominee could conceivably help restore voter trust in the state party. And such a candidate could ride on a wave of goodwill after months of scandals and hand-wringing on the left about Platner.

Zeeshan Aleem

Zeeshan Aleem is a writer and editor for MS NOW. He primarily writes about politics and foreign policy.