Hello John,

As I'm sure you have seen there is a lot going on in Maine right now. In the spirit of transparency we wanted to reach out and share a video update with you from the Maine Dems Executive Director Devon Murphy-Anderson.

Additionally, we wanted to share an email update that was sent below to the press, as well as to Maine Democrats.

Good evening Maine Democrats,

First, thank you all for helping us present a united front as we work through this unprecedented situation. I know that many of you are being inundated with media requests and questions, and the way that we have handled this together is representative of the integrity we have as a Party.

Second, we are committed to an open and transparent process, and are meeting with our lawyers again later tonight for another conversation about making sure that every iteration of a process that we bring forth for consideration is in line with Maine law and our party charter.

In the meantime, a brief update:

In the case of our current nominee suspending his campaign for United States Senate, the Maine Democratic Party is the legal entity responsible for determining the process for selecting a replacement nominee.

Our sincere goals are to reflect the Party's values of openness, inclusion, fairness, and democratic participation and ensure confidence in the legitimacy of the outcome. Taking those goals into account, we are working to consider options that meet the requirements outlined in Maine law and our Charter.

The deadline for a nominee to be selected and submitted to the Secretary of State is Monday, July 27th, at 5:00 PM.

Our process options are being reviewed by our legal counsel in order to ensure a legal way to execute this nomination process under state law and our charter. The process will be determined under consideration of what passes legal review, and what ensures a breadth of participation from Maine Democrats.

Above all else, in addition to meeting legal and procedural requirements, our process must be clearly explained, transparent, and consistent with the Party's governing rules. This will ensure confidence in the nominee and the process used to select that nominee.

We will update you again as soon as we possibly can.

Thirdly, in line with our commitment to transparency, I am sending the below statement that will also be posted on our social media channels and sent to the press shortly after I hit send on this email. Because there have been media reports sharing updates sent to this Committee, moving forward, we will also be sharing these updates directly with the press to ensure full transparency to voters.

"As you know, the Maine Democratic Party has been working around the clock to develop a process to replace our U.S. Senate nominee that is open, inclusive, transparent, and fair.

The integrity of this process is just as important as the outcome, and we are committed to ensuring that Democrats across our state can have confidence in both.

Unfortunately, Graham Platner's team has repeatedly reached out to us in an attempt to put their thumb on the scale of what this process looks like.

We've repeatedly reiterated to Graham Platner's team that they have no role in determining our next Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, nor in determining what this process looks like. We have also reiterated that Graham Platner must drop out of this race so that Democrats in Maine can focus on defeating Susan Collins this November.

We look forward to making this process public as soon as Graham Platner formally withdraws from this race."

Thank you again for your commitment to our party and this process.

In Solidarity,
Devon Murphy-Anderson