Platner's New Controversy: His Texts With Women

Graham Platner, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, has another explosive controversy to weather. The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times report that his wife informed the campaign that she discovered sexually explicit texts on his phone between him and several women. The disclosure from Amy Gertner, who married Platner in 2023, came as staffers were vetting their own candidate ahead of a high-profile Labor Day rally featuring Sen. Bernie Sanders' endorsement. The texts, sent while the couple was married, had stopped before the campaign began, and aides ultimately concluded it was a private marital issue being addressed in counseling. The Sanders rally went ahead.

Platner has not yet addressed the controversy, but his wife released a video describing their marriage as strong and criticizing those engaging in "gossip" about their personal lives. "We did the hard work that marriage requires," she said in a separate statement. "We went to counseling. ... And we came through it." Gertner said she made the revelation thinking she was protecting her husband and feels betrayed by a former campaign aide she thought was a friend. The Times identifies the aide as former state legislator Genevieve McDonald, who is unapologetic, telling the newspaper that the Senate "is a place for proven leaders with moral clarity and integrity."

The episode adds to a growing list of personal and online controversies trailing the political newcomer, a veteran and oyster farmer who has energized progressives. Platner has already faced scrutiny over now-deleted Reddit posts that minimized sexual assault and included crude sexual commentary, as well as his admission that he concealed a tattoo tied to Nazi imagery. The steady drip of revelations has alarmed Democrats who worry that inadequate vetting could jeopardize the party's chances of flipping the seat held by the GOP's Susan Collins.