Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner was once again the focus of unflattering headlines over the weekend about his past behavior — this time involving alleged sexually explicit text messages sent to several women.
Platner and his wife, Amy Gertner, decried what they described as "shameless" focus on gossip rather than the economic and social issues at the heart of his populist campaign. The latest controversy comes a little more than a week ahead of Maine's primary elections, when Platner is expected to clinch the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Susan Collins this fall.
According to reports published on Saturday in the Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, Gertner approached staff in her husband's campaigns last summer about sexually explicit text messages with other women that were on his phone. The messages were reportedly sent before Platner launched his Senate campaign. But Gertner's concern was that revelations of the Platner's "sexting" history could harm his campaign at a time when it was taking off in Maine and gaining national attention.
The newspapers reported that campaign aides deemed the messages a private issue that the couple was handling through marriage counseling.
Platner's campaign has since weathered numerous controversies over his now-infamous posts on Reddit as well as a now-covered skull-and-crossbones tattoo that is associated with Nazis. Platner has said he didn't know the Nazi ties when he received the tattoo with other Marines during an alcohol-fueled break from combat tours in Croatia. And he has apologized for his old online posts dating back more than a decade, saying they reflected his troubled mindset while dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder after four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Platner's campaign has continued to gain momentum, however. His top opponent in the three-person Democratic primary, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign in late April after failing to substantially slow Platner's moment, even after a series of ads highlighting his past controversial comments about women. Mills' name remains on the primary ballot along with Platner and David Costello.
But this past weekend's stories on his alleged extramarital sexting drew attention away from his populist campaign messaging attacking billionaires and what he says is a deeply broken political system.
In a video message on Saturday, Gertner expressed her strong support and love for her husband even as she acknowledged the challenges they have faced since marrying in 2023.
"My personal counselor helps, Graham's personal counselor helps and we work on our mental health every day," she said while walking down their road in Sullivan. "No marriage is perfect and I don't want a perfect marriage, I want my marriage."
Gertner accused some media outlets and opponents of focusing on gossip rather than the issues.
"It's really important for me to tell all of you out there — especially people who are voting in Maine — that I think it's shameful behavior to spend time and energy and resources on negative ads and negative stories on Graham when all he is trying to do is improve the lives of people who work for a living," Gertner said.
Platner echoed those sentiments on Sunday in a written statement, accusing his opponents of wanting "politics to be empty of content and empty of actual change."
"Amy and I went through something hard — because of me," Platner said. "We did the work and I'm grateful for her every hour of every day. I've learned throughout this campaign is that people don't care about gossip or headlines, they care that you're fighting for their hospitals, their paychecks, their kids."
The initial stories in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times were apparently based, at least in part, on interviews with former campaign staffer Genevieve McDonald — the person with whom Gertner had reportedly shared her concerns privately.
McDonald served as Platner's political director during the first several months of his campaign but resigned as news came out about his Reddit posts. She has since become a vocal critic of Platner.
