Sen. Susan Collins interacts with campaign volunteers before the start of the Moxie Festival parade Saturday in Lisbon. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)

As Democrats scramble to work out a process for replacing Graham Platner with another party nominee in the Maine U.S. Senate race, Sen. Susan Collins is left without knowledge of who will oppose her in November. She won’t know until July 25 at the earliest, when Maine Democrats will hold a convention of 601 delegates in Bangor to select a nominee. 

The five-term Republican senator said at the start of the parade at the Moxie Festival in Lisbon on Saturday morning that she had no opinion on the process Democrats have laid out so far, which involves open meetings for Democrats in each Maine county to elect delegates to send to the convention.

“It’s really up to the Democrats,” Collins said. “I play absolutely no role in the choosing of a new Democratic opponent.”

Collins’ campaign has so far focused on her ability to bring federal dollars to Maine, and on Platner’s controversial past.

Sen. Susan Collins’ campaign volunteers walk in the Moxie Festival parade Saturday in Lisbon. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)<?xml version="1.0"?> Purchase this image

Platner faced calls to drop out of the race after a former girlfriend accused him of sexual assault in a Politico story Monday — the latest in a series of scandals that have plagued his campaign since last year.

His decision to withdraw, which he announced Wednesday night and made official on Friday, sent the party into a frantic effort to develop the process for finding a replacement to take on Collins.

Now, she will likely face a candidate without that baggage. 

Collins said she has “no preference or prediction” on whom she will face on the ballot, and that Platner’s exit and replacement won’t change her campaign strategy.

“We’re just going to continue to work as hard as we possibly can. We have a great grassroots organization that you can see represented here today,” Collins said.

Sen. Susan Collins speaks with campaign volunteers before the start of the Moxie Festival parade Saturday in Lisbon. (Anna Chadwick/Staff Photographer)<?xml version="1.0"?> Purchase this image