Democrats seeking to oust Maine Republican Susan Collins from the U.S. Senate in a bid to regain control of Congress’ upper chamber have been alarmed as reports surfaced that the party’s presumptive nominee, Graham Plattner, had sexted with multiple women.
Democrats already face a difficult road to regaining control of the U.S. Senate, and Maine’s race against Sen. Susan Collins is a must-win for the party.
However, reports claim Plattner’s wife was already aware of the text messages and she appeared to support her Marine Corps veteran husband.
Amy Gertner said in a statement on Saturday that she was “deeply hurt” after details of her husband’s messages to other women became public and accused a former campaign official and confidante of betraying her trust.
“I find it shameful that there is a group of media and people willing to spread gossip. There is no perfect marriage and I don’t want a perfect marriage. I want my marriage,” she said In this informal selfie-style video, she walks along the road.
The announcement follows reports in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal that Gertner reported her husband’s sexting with other women to campaign staff shortly after Plattner announced her bid for Senate last year.
Gertner wanted to ensure the texts did not create political liability for the fledgling candidate, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported. Plattner’s campaign ultimately decided the text messages were private and handled by the couple, who will marry in 2023.
Gertner said the two are undergoing counseling.
Maine Democratic Primary
Graham Platner, a Marine Corps veteran and oyster farmer with no previous political experience, has performed well ahead of the June 9 Democratic primary, drawing large crowds at rallies and garnering endorsements from Democrats including Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and Ruben Gallego, as well as U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna.
Although his campaign has been hit by revelations about his past, including his tattoos of what are believed to be swastikas and comments he posted online that disparaged police and white people, CNN reported.
Plattner became the presumptive Democratic nominee after Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out in late April, just weeks before the June 9 primary. Mills, who was recruited by national Democratic leaders to run, will remain on the primary list.
While Plattner’s campaign has been exposed for his past behavior, these early developments don’t appear to have dented his support: He led Collins by 9 points in a University of New Hampshire poll released last week.
It’s unclear how news of his extramarital text messages will affect his appeal. Genevieve McDonald, the Platner campaign’s former political director, confirmed to CNN on Saturday that Platner’s wife revealed to her last year that he had sent sexually explicit text messages to multiple women, and the campaign assessed the matter as a potential political liability.
Former aide explains why she went public
McDonald initially served as political director for Plattner’s campaign and resigned a few months later, when his now-deleted Reddit posts began to surface, saying she could not support him as a candidate. She later turned down the campaign’s offer of a severance package in exchange for signing a nondisclosure agreement.
On Saturday, McDonald wrote on Facebook that Plattner’s campaign “demanded” that she retract her remarks to the Journal or his team would accuse her of violating the couple’s trust. That’s when she said she decided to publicly mention her name in the New York Times report.
more trouble
Graham Platner faced backlash last year after it was revealed he had a swastika-like tattoo on his chest. He said he got the tattoo while in the Army in his 20s and didn’t realize its significance until recently. He has since covered up the tattoo.
CNN and other outlets also reported on other statements Plattner made before the campaign. He once called himself a “communist” and dismissed police as “bastards.” He has since denied the comments.
What do Democrats say?
Sen. Andy King, D-N.J., did not say whether he was concerned about Plattner in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” but pledged to work with “whoever the people of Maine elect.”
Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy struck a more optimistic tone, telling CBS’s “Face the Nation” that there would be clear differences among voters between Plattner and Collins.
“He certainly admits he made mistakes, but I think there’s a very clear contrast in Maine between a man who has spent his life protecting us and a man who seems to be protecting the corruption of Donald Trump,” the Connecticut Democrat said.
Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., said Sunday he was “concerned” about Plattner.
“That person has questions that need to be answered, and that’s what the campaign is about,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”
