Effort to push Nazi-tattooed former senate hopeful as write-in candidate emerges in Maine

Former senate candidate Graham Platner.

Graham Platner dropped out of the U.S. Senate race in Maine in early July as he just couldn't outrun one of the numerous scandals that had been chasing his campaign since he launched it last summer. Democrats replaced him with a candidate named Troy Jackson, who came with his own set of baggage. 

But amid news of some rallying support for writing his name in on the November ballot, Platner is reportedly set to return to the campaign trail for what would be his first public appearance since he dropped out of the race in disgrace amid rape and other allegations of sexual misconduct.

For months, a Nazi tattoo he had for years on his chest before covering it and a litany of shocking remarks made over the years that turned up did nothing to sink his campaign. The claims of ex-girlfriends who painted him as violent at times was finally too much for many of his supporters, who withdrew their endorsements and paved the way for Platner to exit the race.

Scott Niemi, the man behind the write-in effort, wrote a scathing op-ed on Monday in which he blasted Democrats for abandoning Platner and said, "We predict that hundreds if not thousands of Mainers are already planning to write in Graham as a protest vote. We are asking Graham to file as an official write-in candidate by the Aug. 25 deadline so those votes actually get counted on the official record instead of thrown in the bin."

Meanwhile, Jackson, Platner's replacement, has been on the campaign trail and trying to draw parallels between himself and the vanquished candidate. "Me and Graham were pretty aligned on our policies. I believe in Medicare for all ... I've been fighting for that forever," Jackson told supporters at a campaign event in Belfast, Maine. Watch the video below for more.