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    Home»Politics & Opinion»US Politics»Patrick Dempsey shuts down Maine Senate buzz as Democrats weigh a replacement
    US Politics

    Patrick Dempsey shuts down Maine Senate buzz as Democrats weigh a replacement

    News DeskBy News DeskJuly 8, 2026No Comments7 Mins Read
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    ‘
    );
    }

    function setButtonState(button, state) {
    const hint = button.parentElement && button.parentElement.querySelector(‘[data-author-follow-hint]’);
    const followLabel = button.dataset.followLabel || ‘Follow’;
    const followingLabel = button.dataset.followingLabel || ‘Following’;
    const signinLabel = button.dataset.signinLabel || ‘Sign in to follow’;
    const loadingLabel = button.dataset.loadingLabel || ‘Saving…’;
    const pendingAuthLabel = button.dataset.pendingAuthLabel || ‘Loading…’;
    button.classList.remove(‘is-following’, ‘is-loading’, ‘is-auth-required’);

    if (state === ‘loading’) {
    button.classList.add(‘is-loading’);
    button.disabled = true;
    button.textContent = loadingLabel;
    if (hint) {
    hint.textContent=”Updating your followed authors…”;
    }
    return;
    }

    if (state === ‘pending-auth’) {
    button.classList.add(‘is-loading’);
    button.disabled = true;
    button.textContent = pendingAuthLabel;
    if (hint) {
    hint.textContent=”Checking your sign-in status…”;
    }
    return;
    }

    button.disabled = false;

    if (state === ‘following’) {
    button.classList.add(‘is-following’);
    button.textContent = followingLabel;
    if (hint) {
    hint.textContent = followingLabel === ‘Unfollow’
    ? ‘Remove this writer from your followed list.’
    : ‘Click again to unfollow.’;
    }
    return;
    }

    if (state === ‘signin’) {
    button.classList.add(‘is-auth-required’);
    button.textContent = signinLabel;
    if (hint) {
    hint.textContent=”Sign in to follow writers and manage your list.”;
    }
    return;
    }

    button.textContent = followLabel;
    if (hint) {
    hint.textContent=”Click to follow.”;
    }
    }

    function renderWidgets(scope) {
    const root = scope || document;
    root.querySelectorAll(‘[data-author-follow-widget]’).forEach(function (widget) {
    const button = widget.querySelector(‘[data-author-follow-button]’);
    if (!button) {
    return;
    }

    const staffId = widget.dataset.staffId;
    const hasToken = !!getBearerToken();

    if (!isPianoIdentityReady() && !hasToken) {
    setButtonState(button, ‘pending-auth’);
    return;
    }

    if (!hasToken) {
    setButtonState(button, ‘signin’);
    return;
    }

    if (followedAuthorsMap.has(String(staffId))) {
    setButtonState(button, ‘following’);
    } else {
    setButtonState(button, ‘follow’);
    }
    });
    }

    function renderManageList(container) {
    if (!container) {
    return;
    }

    const hasToken = !!getBearerToken();

    if (!isPianoIdentityReady() && !hasToken) {
    container.innerHTML = (
    ‘

    Checking your account status…

    ‘
    );
    return;
    }

    if (!hasToken) {
    container.innerHTML = (
    ‘

    Sign in to load the authors you follow. ‘ +
    ‘Sign in

    ‘
    );
    return;
    }

    const followedAuthors = Array.from(followedAuthorsMap.values());
    if (!followedAuthors.length) {
    container.innerHTML = (
    ‘

    You are not following any authors yet. ‘ +
    ‘Use the follow buttons on stories or staff pages to build your list.

    ‘
    );
    return;
    }

    container.innerHTML = followedAuthors
    .map(function (author) {
    return (
    ‘

    ‘ +
    ” +
    ‘

    ‘ +
    ‘‘ +
    ‘Remove this writer from your followed list.‘ +
    ‘

    ‘ +
    ‘

    ‘
    );
    })
    .join(”);

    bindEvents(container);
    renderWidgets(container);
    }

    async function refresh(scope, options) {
    const forceFetch = !!(options && options.force);

    if (!hasFollowWidgets(scope)) {
    return;
    }

    // Wipe the cached map BEFORE the first render so a user-switch can’t
    // momentarily display the previous user’s “Following” state.
    discardCacheIfTokenChanged();

    renderWidgets(scope);

    const manageContainer = document.querySelector(‘[data-author-follow-manage-list]’);
    const managePreferencesContainer = document.querySelector(‘[data-author-follow-manage-preferences]’);
    const hasToken = !!getBearerToken();

    if (!isPianoIdentityReady() && !hasToken) {
    renderWidgets(scope);
    renderManagePreferences(managePreferencesContainer);
    renderManageList(manageContainer);
    return;
    }

    if (!hasToken) {
    renderManagePreferences(managePreferencesContainer);
    renderManageList(manageContainer);
    return;
    }

    try {
    await loadFollowedAuthors(forceFetch);
    renderWidgets(scope);
    renderManagePreferences(managePreferencesContainer);
    renderManageList(manageContainer);
    } catch (error) {
    console.warn(‘Unable to load followed authors.’, error);
    if (error && error.code === ‘AUTH_REQUIRED’) {
    renderWidgets(scope);
    renderManagePreferences(managePreferencesContainer);
    renderManageList(manageContainer);
    }
    }
    }

    function startLoginPoll() {
    if (loginPoll) {
    clearInterval(loginPoll);
    }

    let attempts = 0;
    loginPoll = setInterval(function () {
    attempts += 1;
    if (getBearerToken() || isLoggedIn() || attempts > 25) {
    clearInterval(loginPoll);
    loginPoll = null;
    refresh(document, { force: true });
    }
    }, 1000);
    }

    function stopPianoReadyPoll() {
    if (pianoReadyPoll) {
    clearInterval(pianoReadyPoll);
    pianoReadyPoll = null;
    }
    }

    function startPianoReadyPoll() {
    stopPianoReadyPoll();

    let attempts = 0;
    pianoReadyPoll = setInterval(function () {
    attempts += 1;
    if (isPianoIdentityReady() || getBearerToken() || attempts > 40) {
    stopPianoReadyPoll();
    // Non-forced: if bindPianoInitRefresh already fetched, the TTL
    // dedupes this call. If it lost the race, this call wins.
    refresh(document);
    }
    }, 500);
    }

    function bindPianoInitRefresh() {
    if (pianoInitBound) {
    return;
    }

    pianoInitBound = whenPianoReady(function () {
    // The Piano init callback is the canonical “identity is ready” signal;
    // cancel the fallback poll so it can’t issue a redundant second fetch.
    stopPianoReadyPoll();
    refresh(document, { force: true });
    });
    }

    async function handleWidgetClick(widget, button) {
    const staffId = widget.dataset.staffId;

    if (!getBearerToken()) {
    setButtonState(button, isPianoIdentityReady() ? ‘signin’ : ‘pending-auth’);
    if (typeof window.showPianoLogin === ‘function’) {
    window.showPianoLogin();
    startLoginPoll();
    }
    return;
    }

    // If the identity changed since the cache was last filled, drop the stale
    // map before the follow/unfollow decision below — otherwise the click
    // could issue the wrong action against the previous user’s state.
    discardCacheIfTokenChanged();

    setButtonState(button, ‘loading’);

    try {
    if (followedAuthorsMap.has(String(staffId))) {
    await apiRequest(apiBaseUrl + “https://www.washingtontimes.com/” + staffId, { method: ‘DELETE’ });
    followedAuthorsMap.delete(String(staffId));
    removePushlyFollowedAuthorId(staffId);
    } else {
    const author = await apiRequest(apiBaseUrl + “https://www.washingtontimes.com/” + staffId, {
    method: ‘PUT’,
    body: JSON.stringify({
    push_enabled: followDeliveryPreferences.push_enabled,
    email_fallback_enabled: followDeliveryPreferences.email_fallback_enabled,
    }),
    });
    followedAuthorsMap.set(String(staffId), author);
    appendPushlyFollowedAuthorId(staffId);
    }

    saveStoredFollowDeliveryPreferences(
    deriveFollowDeliveryPreferences(Array.from(followedAuthorsMap.values())),
    );
    syncPushlyFollowedAuthorsProfile();
    renderManagePreferences(document.querySelector(‘[data-author-follow-manage-preferences]’));
    renderWidgets(document);
    renderManageList(document.querySelector(‘[data-author-follow-manage-list]’));
    } catch (error) {
    console.warn(‘Unable to update followed author.’, error);
    if (error && error.code === ‘AUTH_REQUIRED’) {
    setButtonState(button, ‘signin’);
    }
    renderWidgets(document);
    }
    }

    function bindEvents(scope) {
    const root = scope || document;
    root.querySelectorAll(‘[data-author-follow-widget]’).forEach(function (widget) {
    if (widget.dataset.followWidgetBound === ‘true’) {
    return;
    }
    widget.dataset.followWidgetBound = ‘true’;

    const button = widget.querySelector(‘[data-author-follow-button]’);
    if (!button) {
    return;
    }

    button.addEventListener(‘click’, function () {
    handleWidgetClick(widget, button);
    });
    });

    root.querySelectorAll(‘[data-author-follow-manage-preferences]’).forEach(function (container) {
    if (container.dataset.followGlobalPreferencesBound === ‘true’) {
    return;
    }
    container.dataset.followGlobalPreferencesBound = ‘true’;

    async function handlePreferenceChange() {
    const pushInput = container.querySelector(‘[data-author-follow-global-pref=”push”]’);
    const emailInput = container.querySelector(‘[data-author-follow-global-pref=”email”]’);
    if (!pushInput || !emailInput) {
    return;
    }

    const previousPreferences = {
    push_enabled: followDeliveryPreferences.push_enabled,
    email_fallback_enabled: followDeliveryPreferences.email_fallback_enabled,
    };
    const payload = {
    push_enabled: !!pushInput.checked,
    email_fallback_enabled: !!emailInput.checked,
    };
    // Drop a stale map if the identity changed before iterating — we
    // don’t want to issue follow updates against the previous user’s
    // authors with the current user’s bearer token.
    discardCacheIfTokenChanged();
    const followedAuthors = Array.from(followedAuthorsMap.values());

    saveStoredFollowDeliveryPreferences(payload);
    managePreferencesPending = true;
    pushInput.disabled = true;
    emailInput.disabled = true;

    try {
    await Promise.all(
    followedAuthors.map(function (author) {
    return updateFollowPreferences(author.id, payload);
    }),
    );
    renderManagePreferences(container);
    renderWidgets(document);
    renderManageList(document.querySelector(‘[data-author-follow-manage-list]’));
    } catch (error) {
    console.warn(‘Unable to update author follow preferences.’, error);
    saveStoredFollowDeliveryPreferences(previousPreferences);
    pushInput.checked = previousPreferences.push_enabled;
    emailInput.checked = previousPreferences.email_fallback_enabled;
    } finally {
    managePreferencesPending = false;
    pushInput.disabled = false;
    emailInput.disabled = false;
    }
    }

    container.addEventListener(‘change’, function (event) {
    const target = event.target;
    if (!target || !target.matches(‘[data-author-follow-global-pref]’)) {
    return;
    }
    handlePreferenceChange();
    });
    });
    }

    function init(scope) {
    const root = scope || document;
    if (!hasFollowWidgets(root)) {
    return;
    }
    bindEvents(root);
    renderWidgets(root);
    bindPianoInitRefresh();
    startPianoReadyPoll();
    refresh(root);
    }

    window.WTAuthorFollow = {
    init: init,
    refresh: refresh,
    };

    document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’, function () {
    init(document);
    });

    window.addEventListener(‘focus’, function () {
    if (hasFollowWidgets(document)) {
    refresh(document);
    }
    });
    document.addEventListener(‘visibilitychange’, function () {
    if (!document.hidden && hasFollowWidgets(document)) {
    refresh(document);
    }
    });
    } else {
    window.WTAuthorFollow.init(document);
    }
    })();


    FILE – Patrick Dempsey attends the Fox network upfront at New York City Center on May 11, 2026, in New York. (Photo by CJ Rivera/Invision/AP, File)


    FILE – Patrick Dempsey attends the …

    more >

    By Kimberlee Kruesi

    –

    Associated Press
    –

    Wednesday, July 8, 2026


    Actor Patrick Dempsey said Wednesday that he will not run for a Maine Senate seat, quashing speculation that the “Grey’s Anatomy” star and People magazine’s former Sexiest Man Alive was among those being considered to replace embattled Democratic nominee Graham Platner.

    Platner has currently paused his campaign to mull withdrawing from the high-stakes Senate race following an accusation from a former girlfriend that he once sexually assaulted her. The oyster farmer and Marine veteran, who denies the allegation, had secured the Democratic nomination in June to go up against longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.

    In an editorial published in the Portland Press Herald, Dempsey wrote that Mainers are facing challenges including housing, healthcare and education, and whoever is elected as Maine’s next senator should work to enact meaningful change.

    “As I reflected on all of this, I kept coming back to one question: Do I truly want to serve in Congress?” Dempsey wrote. “After a lot of thought, I realized the answer is no. 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.”

    Dempsey did not endorse any other candidate from those currently teasing their interest in replacing Platner, nor did he name Platner. Instead, he wrote that the candidate should offer “a new approach to how we govern ourselves.”

    “Most of all, I want integrity. That may sound idealistic today, but it shouldn’t,” he added.

    Dempsey grew up in the Lewiston-Auburn area and is the founder of The Dempsey Center in Maine, which provides free care to people impacted by cancer.

    Copyright © 2026 The Washington Times, LLC.

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