Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner officially withdraws from race

Graham Platner formally withdrew from the Maine Senate race on Friday, days after he announced he was suspending his campaign in the wake of a sexual assault allegation, which he has denied.

Platner shared his letter to the Maine Maine Secretary of State's office in a post on X.

"I write to formally withdraw my candidacy for the United States Senate," the letter reads.

The Maine Secretary of State's office confirmed via a press release that it has received the formal notice of withdrawal from the race, which had been one of the most closely watched in the country as Democrats seek to take back the Senate.

Platner won the state's Democratic primary in June with more than 70% of the vote.

Earlier this week, a source told ABC News that Platner privately told staff that he planned to officially file the paperwork to withdraw from the race on Monday -- the last day he could do so.

Platner's exit from the race came after growing pressure from Democrats, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who were early supporters of his campaign, which focused on being an outsider who could take on wealth inequality.

On Monday, Politico published a report containing an allegation from Jenny Racicot, a former girlfriend, that Platner forced her into having sex without her consent after repeatedly telling him to stop while they were dating five years ago.

Platner has continued to deny the allegation, calling it "categorically false."

The Maine Democratic Party has until July 27 to pick another Democratic nominee. Earlier this week, the party had voted to hold a convention among party members to choose a nominee to choose his replacement to take on Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

In his notice of withdrawal, Platner writes that Maine voters want change and to further the American dream.

"People are desperate for change," he wrote. For this broken system to be righted. For the American experiment to be furthered."

"My name may have been on the ballot, but that ballot line belongs to the people of Maine," he later writes.

Platner faced several scandals since he launched his campaign, including sending sexually explicit texts to multiple women and previously having a tattoo with Nazi symbolism. Platner said he didn't know his tattoo had a Nazi association and covered it up when he learned about its meaning.

Platner responded to report about his explicit text messages, saying he and his wife "went through something hard -- because of me" and added that "people don't care about gossip or headlines, they care that you're fighting for their hospitals, their paycheck, their kids."