A top Democrat on Sunday expressed “concerns” about Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner in the wake of reports that he exchanged sexually explicit texts with multiple women, which his wife said she flagged to his campaign.
Asked about the controversy on ABC News, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said, “Yeah I have concerns. That guy has questions to answer and that’s what campaigns are for.”
The oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran’s wife, Amy Gertner, informed a senior campaign aide last summer that he had exchanged sexual messages with several women, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.
Gertner acknowledged in a lengthy video released on social media Saturday evening that she had informed her husband’s campaign about his activity. “I confided deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend,” she said.
That person, former state Rep. Genevieve McDonald, who left the Platner campaign last fall, said she was warned by the Senate candidate’s campaign that she would be accused of sabotage if she cooperated with news outlets reporting on Platner’s sexually explicit texts, according to Maine’s Bangor Daily News. The Daily News said the warning came in the form of a message from political media strategist Morris Katz, who helped get Zohran Mamdani elected mayor of New York City.
Asked for comment about the allegations, the Platner campaign issued a statement — not from the candidate or a spokesperson for his campaign, but from his wife. Gertner’s statement adhered closely to the message she shared in her video.
Booker, a leading Democrat and potential 2028 presidential candidate, explained his position on Platner, saying, “So much is riding on Democrats taking control of the Senate … It’s time we take back the Senate and that’s what I’m focused on.”
Levar Stoney, the former mayor of Richmond, Virginia, said in a post on X: “I can’t help but think that if this candidate were a person of color or a woman, my party would be asking them to consider stepping aside immediately. A Nazi tattoo! Now this. I want Democrats to take back the Senate — but not like this.”
Rhonda Elaine Foxx, a former campaign aide to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, criticized Platner for leaving it to his wife to address the matter rather than doing it himself. “This is horrific,” she wrote on social media. “Asking her do this is TRASH.”
Platner, who has been engulfed in controversy for months — including over a Nazi-style tattoo he had on his body for many years — became the presumptive Senate Democratic nominee to face Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, in November after Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the race in late April.
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., appearing on MS NOW’s “Alex Witt Reports” dismissed the issue as one to be resolved privately between Platner and his wife. And he pointed to President Donald Trump’s multiple controversies, which he said are “enabled by Susan Collins.”
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., told CBS News that Platner has “made mistakes,” but defined the Maine Senate race as “between somebody who has spent his life protecting us versus somebody who seems to be protecting Donald Trump’s corruption.”
Gertner defended her marriage to Platner and said that she and her husband have been working through their issues in counseling. “We work on our mental health every day,” she said.
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She called the news reports about her husband’s extramarital sexting “extra shitty” and said she’s “really angry” and “disappointed” by the media coverage about that rather than focusing on Platner’s policy plans. She added that she and her husband “love each other deeply.”
Another congressional Democrat, Rep. Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, said last week that Platner’s tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, which he later covered up, and past comments are reason enough not to support his candidacy.
“I’ve been clear about Graham Platner. I find that tattoo and his commentary about it to be personally disqualifying,” Auchincloss told CNN last week.
Kate Bedingfield, former Biden White House communications director, said on CNN Sunday, “I think there’s a lot about Graham Platner frankly that is unpalatable.” She noted “he was not my choice,” but said it’s up to the voters of Maine to decide whether they want him.
Other Democrats defended Platner after his latest controversy surfaced in news reports. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., said in a statement on social media that he was proud of Platner for “having the character to stand up against the war in Iran, against genocide, and against an unfair & lopsided economy.”
Asked about the sexting revelations on Sunday, Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., told CNN, “I will work with whoever the people of Maine elect, but I hope that they elect somebody that is going to stand up to this president, work with me to be able to fight back against all these dangers.”
While Mills dropped out of the Democratic primary race, she does not appear to have taken the step to have her name removed from the ballot. That means her name will likely still be on the ballot alongside Platner’s in the June 9 primary, which Platner has been widely expected to win.
The second Monday in July is a notable date to watch. According to Maine law, 5 p.m. on that day is the deadline for a candidate to withdraw for reasons other than “catastrophic” illness, condition, injury or death. If a primary winner withdrew by that time, it would be to the state’s Democratic political committee to nominate a new candidate by the fourth Monday in July.
Hunter Woodall contributed to this report.
Erum Salam is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW, with a focus on how global events and foreign policy shape U.S. politics. She previously was a breaking news reporter for The Guardian.