Actor Patrick Dempsey pours cold water on possible Senate bid in Maine

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Patrick Dempsey will not attempt to go from the fictional Seattle Grace Hospital to the real U.S. Senate.

Dempsey, a native of Lewiston, Maine, who is perhaps best known for his role on ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy,” said Tuesday he will not run for Senate in his home state, as Democrats in Maine and across the nation call on Democratic nominee Graham Platner to drop out of the race.

In a Portland Press Herald opinion piece, Dempsey wrote that multiple people have asked him whether he would ever run for Senate.

While he called the questions “flattering,” the 60-year-old said politics is not in his future.

“After a lot of thought, I realized the answer is no,” he wrote. “Not because public service isn’t honorable — it absolutely is. But because I believe I can contribute more effectively through the life I’ve already built.”

In 2008, the “Grey’s Anatomy” star founded the Dempsey Center amid his mother Amanda’s battle with ovarian cancer. The center “provides care and support to hundreds of individuals and their families” affected by cancer, according to its website.

The center has three locations in the Pine Tree State: Lewiston, Portland and Westbrook.

Earlier this week, a woman who dated Platner on-and-off publicly accused the Democratic nominee of raping her in 2021. Another woman who dated Platner said he removed his condoms without her consent during sex.

Numerous elected Democrats have since called on Platner to leave the race, with multiple Democrats in Maine throwing their names in the hat to take his place on the ballot against five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins (Maine).

But even as the Maine Democratic Party hashes out a process to replace Platner, the nominee — who has denied the misconduct allegations against him — has yet to drop out of the race.

If Platner ends his campaign and Maine Democrats choose a new nominee, Dempsey hopes that person “offers a new approach to how we govern ourselves.”

He added, “I want someone who leads with empathy. Someone who listens before speaking, who has the courage to work with people they disagree with and who understands that public office isn’t about power. It’s about service.”

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Graham Platner

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Patrick Dempsey

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Portland Press Herald

Senator Susan Collins

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