Gay Politician Jordan Wood Announces Bid to Replace Graham Platner in Maine Senate Race

Out gay politician Jordan Wood has thrown his hat in the ring to replace Graham Platner, the Maine Democrat who was set to face off against longtime GOP senator Susan Collins in November. Wood announced his intentions after Platner dropped out of the race on Wednesday following allegations of sexual assault against him from a previous girlfriend. Wood announced his intentions on Thursday morning via social media. “It's official: I’m running to defeat Susan Collins. Not with corporate PAC money. Not with AIPAC or lobbyist cash. With you,” he wrote in a caption accompanying his lengthy statement. “Together we'll stop ICE from terrorizing our streets, pass Medicare for All, and end Citizens United.”It's official: I'm running to defeat Susan Collins.Not with corporate PAC money. Not with AIPAC or lobbyist cash. With you.Together we'll stop ICE from terrorizing our streets, pass Medicare for All, and end Citizens United. pic.twitter.com/C2sCSx9SQM— Jordan Wood (@JordanWood) July 9, 2026 “I have been told that I am too progressive, that I am too young, that a gay man can’t win,” Wood said in his official statement. “These cynics are wrong. They have been wrong all of our lives. They remain wrong today. I’m asking for your support to take back control of our party, and our country.” In an October interview with Them's sibling publication The Advocate, Wood said the moral test for public office is not about perfection but about what candidates do once their mistakes are exposed. He said Platner’s history of antigay Reddit posts and his Nazi-era tattoo were not merely examples of poor judgment but disqualifying. “I believe deeply in second chances,” Wood said at the time. “But what I saw was someone who doesn’t understand what’s wrong with these statements — how offensive and threatening they are, not just to LGBTQ people, but to people of color and women.”Wood, 36 and married to a Jewish man, told The Advocate that the timing of Platn