The frenzied sprint among Maine Democrats hoping to replace Graham Platner | CNN Politics

County party chairs inundated with calls. An endless stream of Google sign-up forms and spreadsheets. And a disgraced former nominee looming over it all, haunting the party’s hopes of starting anew. The snap Democratic election to replace Graham Platner and face Republican Sen. Susan Collins this fall is off to a hectic and dramatic start. The implosion of Platner’s campaign after he was accused of rape – an allegation he denies – left Maine Democrats scrambling to create a highly unorthodox process that reflects the high stakes for the battle to win control of the Senate. On July 25, just 15 days after Platner formally dropped out, 601 delegates will meet in Bangor to vote on a new nominee. Most of the delegates – 500 – will be picked this weekend at county meetings across Maine. The other 101 delegates will automatically come from Maine’s Democratic State Committee, and they are already being heavily courted. At least eight candidates are rushing to collect enough signatures to qualify for the convention and assemble slates of delegates to vote for them. “We are in a perilous situation, and there is no perfect way to deal with an unprecedented situation like this,