In the wake of Graham Platner’s success (and fall), a candidate to replace him changes his mind about ‘genocide’
When Jordan Wood vied last fall for the Democratic nomination for Maine’s U.S. Senate seat, he avoided accusing Israel of genocide, citing a link between rising antisemitism and “the language” that people use. Graham Platner,…
Assessment
A Maine Senate primary has been reshaped by a sexual assault allegation against the frontrunner, Graham Platner, who denied the accusation. His replacement candidate, Jordan Wood, previously avoided calling Israel's actions genocide but now uses that exact language. The shift suggests that the political calculation around the term has changed in this race, and that the accusation against Platner has opened space for more aggressive rhetoric from his would-be successor.