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The implosion of Graham Platner’s campaign for Senate in Maine after an accusation of rape has ripped open divisions inside the Democratic Party as its progressives and moderates battle to pick his successor even before he has said he will step aside.

National Democrats have grown alarmed that a seat seen as crucial to winning control of the Senate could be slipping from the party’s grasp. Mr. Platner had survived a series of controversies — about a tattoo with Nazi symbolism, inflammatory old Reddit posts and his relationships with women — but many in the party abandoned him after the rape accusation, including the leaders of the Maine Democratic Party and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader.

They have demanded that Mr. Platner step down before a July 13 deadline for him to be replaced on the ballot to find a new Democrat to run against Senator Susan Collins, a longtime Republican fixture in the state. The main super PAC for Democratic Senate candidates said it would redirect $24 million in ad reservations to other states if he remained.

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, one of Mr. Platner’s earliest and most prominent backers, joined the chorus on Tuesday afternoon.

“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine,” Mr. Sanders said in a statement. “In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”

Mr. Platner, who has denied the allegation, said on a private call with his campaign staff on Monday evening that he believed he still had leverage to influence which candidate would replace him on the ticket, according to three people familiar with the conversation. On the call, he did not announce plans to withdraw but implied such a decision would be coming, the people said.

Mr. Platner’s campaign had stopped running ads on Meta’s platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, as of Tuesday, according to the company’s ad disclosure database. He had been running multiple ads as recently as Monday evening.

Top Democrats believe that it is only a matter of time before Mr. Platner formally quits — and gives the party a fresh start in its bid to oust Ms. Collins, who has proved a durable foe.

The facade of a brick building with a blue door and Graham Platner campaign signs in the windows.
Mr. Platner’s campaign headquarters in Ellsworth, Maine, stood empty on Monday night.Credit...Gin Majka for The New York Times
The drama comes almost exactly two years after the Democratic Party was roiled by the exit of Joseph R. Biden Jr., then the president, from his re-election race and the speedy anointment of Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. That process — and Democrats’ ultimate loss in 2024 — has left deep scar tissue for many in the party.

Many on the left — including, it appears, Mr. Platner himself — want any replacement to come from the progressive wing of the party after he won the primary over Gov. Janet Mills, a moderate two-term Democrat, who withdrew over a month before the election.

“To the Democratic establishment: This is not your opening,” said Joseph Geevarghese, the executive director of Our Revolution, a group that emerged from Mr. Sanders’s 2016 presidential campaign. Referring to Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, he added, “Mainers did not vote by an overwhelming margin against Janet Mills and the D.S.C.C.’s handpicked pick just to be handed another status-quo candidate anyway.”

Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont holding up hands with Graham Platner at a campaign event.
Mr. Sanders and Mr. Platner share a similar brand of left-wing politics.Credit...Joe Raedle/Getty Images
On the flip side, many in the party establishment believe those on the left should show some humility after Mr. Platner’s collapse.

A range of Democratic groups and activists engaged in the politics of I-told-you-so.

“When women raise the alarm, listen,” said a social media post from Emily’s List, a group that works to elect Democratic women and that had backed Ms. Mills. “Graham Platner’s behavior is disqualifying (AS WE HAVE SAID THIS WHOLE DAMN TIME), and he should end his campaign.”

On Tuesday morning, more Democrats who are ideological allies of Mr. Platner called for him to step aside, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City.

“I believe that it’s time for him to drop out of the race,” Mr. Mamdani said when asked at a news conference. “I think the focus of today should be to respond to the gravity of what so many of us have read, and I think the only appropriate response is for the campaign to come to an end.”

Mr. Mamdani and Mr. Platner share several advisers, including Morris Katz and Rebecca Katz of the Fight Agency.

The progressive group MoveOn also dropped its endorsement.

As the situation in Maine threatened to spiral out of control, Mr. Schumer and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are set to host major donors this week for a fund-raising retreat at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. Donors are asked to contribute $44,300 to attend, according to a copy of the invitation.