Platner vows – Graham Platner, the Democratic U.S. Senate nominee in Maine, told a crowd of hundreds in Bar Harbor that voters would back him as he heads toward Tuesday’s primary, despite fresh reporting about sexually explicit messages and other past controversies.
BAR HARBOR, Maine — Graham Platner stepped to the microphones and leaned into the moment, the way first-time candidates do when the room already feels like it’s leaning one direction.
A steady drumbeat of reports about his history with women has dogged his run. With Tuesday’s primary only days away, he responded by asking for something more than sympathy: loyalty.
“When politically motivated, serious and false accusations are made against me, Maine, you have my back,” Platner told a crowd of hundreds in a coastal resort town on Friday. “The state of Maine raised me. And the state of Maine saved me.”
He cast himself as a redemption story with a deadline. Platner, an insurgent Democratic candidate running to oust Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November, described himself as Democrats’ best shot to win back the U.S. Senate—even if his past won’t go quietly.
Last weekend, his campaign confronted stories about sexually explicit messages that Platner sent to several women while he was married. Then, on Thursday, The New York Times reported about his relationships with previous girlfriends. Some people said they viewed him positively. Others described him as volatile and insulting.
One woman alleged that Platner twisted her arm during an argument and locked her in a room. Platner called the allegation untrue.
Despite the reports, there was little hesitation among the Democrats who filled the Friday crowd. The standing ovation came early, before he even started talking, as if the audience wanted to declare—right up front—that the campaign could not be derailed by what had surfaced.
Platner is the last remaining candidate in the party’s nomination after Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign. and many Democrats in attendance appeared eager to rally behind a contender they believe can defeat Collins. Some said the urgency of taking the Senate back matters more than perfect backgrounds.
“I’ve always believed in redemption. And so, I just think people deserve a second chance, and should be allowed to continue changing,” said Brendan O’Keefe of Seal Cove.
Others said the key was not denial, but ownership.
Galen Lowe of Bar Harbor said he believed Platner was speaking plainly about his past.
“It’s refreshing to have someone actually own up to stuff that they’ve done and say, yeah, that wasn’t such a great idea. I’m working to be a better person,” Lowe said.
Platner’s pitch has been helped by high-profile support from prominent politicians, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Ruben Gallego. On Friday evening, he appeared alongside progressive Rep. Ro Khanna of California, as well as Democratic candidates for U.S. House and governor.
Khanna said the crowd should focus on what he argued is the candidate’s values.
“We reject, unequivocally, misogyny. But you know who else rejects it? Graham Platner,” Khanna said. “He understood that those years that he came back were not the best years of his life.”
The scrutiny did not begin with this week’s headlines. It surged again last weekend after reports that Platner and his wife, Amy Gertner, have had marital difficulties and sought counseling following allegations that he sent sexually explicit text messages to other women.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Gertner told the campaign in August about the messages. The reporting said she discovered them on his phone last year and shared them to help ensure they weren’t a campaign liability. Platner’s campaign team reportedly decided the texts were private and were being handled by the couple. who were married in 2023.
Genevieve McDonald, a former campaign staffer for Platner, told The Associated Press that the candidate was “sexting multiple women while married” and that “the campaign tried to assess that as an election vulnerability.”
After the news broke, Platner posted a five-minute video taken by Gertner. Gertner avoided speaking directly about her husband’s reported texts, but she dubbed the broader coverage “gossip” and said, “being married is hard.”
Her comments resonated with some women, including those who said they were shocked a former campaign aide would “betray someone’s trust” and that the issue should stay within the couple.
“It’s none of my business as far as I’m concerned,” said Joanne Mason, a local Democratic leader from south-central Maine. “And I would hope that people wouldn’t judge any one person on their own private marriage.”
Valerie Tate, a Democrat from Belfast, said Gertner’s honesty about working on mental health and marriage looked like integrity.
“That is not a scandal,” Tate wrote in an email. “That is integrity. Personal growth is not a disqualification from public life. For many of us, it is precisely what made us worthy of it.”
Tate also acknowledged the race is not simple.
She wrote that she still wasn’t fully at ease, because voters are still learning.
“Of course, there is that concern as there would be in any race with somebody we don’t know all the dramas and the journeys they’ve been on,” Tate wrote. “Something could come out that would be disqualifying.”
Other parts of Platner’s past have already been scrutinized. He has faced questions after a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol came to light; he covered it up after starting his campaign. Platner has said he didn’t realize the meaning of the tattoo. But a former girlfriend told The Times he joked about it being a Nazi symbol and called it “my Totenkopf.”.
His former Reddit posts have also been discussed, including posts described as dismissive of military sexual assaults and using homophobic slurs, for which he has apologized.
While Democrats in the Bar Harbor crowd rallied, at least two feminist political groups encouraged Maine voters to vote for Mills instead of Platner. National Organization for Women PAC and Vote for Equality said voters should support Mills, who will still appear on the ballot.
Platner has never held elected office. His campaign has leaned into a progressive. populist-style message aimed at issues including income inequality. lack of health care accessibility and the rising cost of housing. The approach has drawn thousands to rallies and campaign events. and he has collected millions in campaign funds to keep his message moving.
Still, the question hanging over every conversation in this primary is what else might surface before the November stakes arrive.
Deb Dagnan, chair of Maine’s Piscataquis County Democrats, said some party members are already bracing for more.
“I think a lot of people are afraid,” Dagnan said. “They’re waiting for the other shoe to drop after he gets the nomination. Then what do we do?”
Graham Platner Susan Collins Janet Mills Maine primary U.S. Senate Bernie Sanders Elizabeth Warren Ruben Gallego Ro Khanna Amy Gertner misogyny allegations sexting allegations Nazi tattoo Reddit posts