{"id":131912,"date":"2026-06-04T22:01:42","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/graham-platner-to-hold-maine-rally-with-rep-ro-khanna-as-scandals-shake-up-campaign\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T22:01:42","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:01:42","slug":"graham-platner-to-hold-maine-rally-with-rep-ro-khanna-as-scandals-shake-up-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/graham-platner-to-hold-maine-rally-with-rep-ro-khanna-as-scandals-shake-up-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Graham Platner to hold Maine rally with Rep. Ro Khanna as scandals shake up campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Graham
Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks at an event hosted by Sen. Bernie Sanders in Orono, Maine, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span>(AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) \u2014 Graham Platner, the insurgent Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine, will hold his first major campaign rally on Friday night as reports continue emerging<\/a> about his history with women.<\/p>\n

Last weekend, his campaign wrestled with 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 viewed him positively but others described him as volatile and insulting.<\/p>\n

One woman said Platner twisted her arm during an argument and locked her in a room. Platner called that allegation untrue.<\/p>\n

But with Maine’s primary around the corner Tuesday and Democrats desperate to rally behind a candidate<\/a> who can defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November, there’s been little sign of voters or political allies backing away from Platner, who has pitched himself as an imperfect person who has redeemed himself.<\/p>\n

Some dismissed news of the text messages as a private matter, one that should be addressed solely by the married couple. Others argue that the need for Democrats to take back control of the U.S. Senate from Republicans is too important to cast aside imperfect candidates.<\/p>\n

Yet they’re also wrestling with the question of whether more controversial information surrounding Platner could come out ahead of the November election.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of people are afraid,\u201d said Deb Dagnan, chair of Maine\u2019s Piscataquis County Democrats. \u201cThey\u2019re waiting for the other shoe to drop after he gets the nomination. Then what do we do?\u201d<\/p>\n

Key to the Senate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Platner is key to Democrats hopes’ to take back the U.S. Senate this year. Yet he’s been bedeviled by near-constant controversies involving his disclosure of a since-covered tattoo of a Nazi symbol<\/a>, his history of inflammatory online comments and the texting revelations.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Platner’s most prominent supporters have continued to back the candidate, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Ruben Gallego. Platner is scheduled to appear in Bar Harbor Friday evening with progressive Rep. Ro Khanna of California, as well as Democratic candidates for U.S. House and governor, as a part of a \u201cget out the vote\u201d rally in the coastal resort town.<\/p>\n

The event is taking place just days ahead of the state’s June 9 primary election, where Platner is expected to secure the Democratic nomination. His top opponent, Gov. Janet Mills, suspended her campaign in late April.<\/p>\n

He’ll do so under reignited scrutiny amid reports that he and his wife, Amy Gertner, have had marital difficulties and sought counseling<\/a> after he allegedly sent sexually explicit text messages to other women.<\/p>\n

According to The Wall Street Journal, Gertner had told the campaign in August about the messages, which she had discovered on his phone last year, to make sure they weren\u2019t a liability to the campaign. Platner\u2019s campaign team reportedly decided that the texts were private and being handled by the couple, who were married in 2023.<\/p>\n

Genevieve McDonald, a former campaign staffer for Platner, told The Associated Press that the candidate was \u201csexting multiple women while married\u201d and that \u201cthe campaign tried to assess that as an election vulnerability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly after the news came out, Platner posted a five-minute video taken by Gertner, who avoided speaking directly about her husband\u2019s reported texts but dubbed the broader coverage as \u201cgossip\u201d and said \u201cbeing married is hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voters worry that more scandals lurk<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gertner’s emotional comments about working on her marriage have resonated with some women, who say they are shocked that a former campaign aide would betray someone’s trust and the issue should remain between the couple.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s none of my business as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d said Joanne Mason, a local Democratic leader from south-central Maine. \u201cAnd I would hope that people wouldn\u2019t judge any one person on their own private marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Valerie Tate, a Democrat from Belfast, described Gertner’s honesty about trying to work on their mental health and marriage as admirable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is not a scandal,\u201d Tate wrote in an email. \u201cThat is integrity. Personal growth is not a disqualification from public life. For many of us, it is precisely what made us worthy of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Tate conceded that her mind wasn\u2019t fully at ease. With the public still learning about Platner\u2019s past, there is a chance something could emerge as a dealbreaker for voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, there is that concern as there would be in any race with somebody we don\u2019t know all the dramas and the journeys they\u2019ve been on,” she wrote. “Something could come out that would be disqualifying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Past controversies simmer<\/strong><\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time Platner has faced questions about his past. He had a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol<\/a>, which he had covered up after starting his campaign.<\/p>\n

Platner has said he didn’t realize the meaning of the tattoo. However, a former girlfriend told the Times he joked about it being a Nazi symbol and called it \u201cmy Totenkopf.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also been much attention on Platner’s former Reddit posts, which were dismissive of military sexual assaults and used homophobic slurs, for which he has apologized.<\/p>\n

Platner has never held elected office and has fashioned a straight-talking, progressive, populist-style campaign focusing on issues such as income inequality, lack of health care accessibility and the rising cost of housing. In return, he’s attracted thousands at his rallies and campaign events and collected millions in campaign funds to further boost his messaging.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople want somebody new,\u201d said Paige Zeigler, a former Maine Democratic lawmaker and head of the Waldo County Democrats, on why Platner’s staying power has remained strong. \u201cThey want somebody that they feel that they can embrace. And Platner is riding that wave.\u201d ___<\/p>\n

Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks at an event hosted by Sen. Bernie Sanders in Orono, Maine, Sunday, May 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty)(AP Photo\/Robert F. Bukaty) PORTLAND, Maine (AP) \u2014 Graham Platner, the insurgent Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine, will hold his first major campaign rally on Friday night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5734],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-131912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-associated-press"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131912"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131912\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131912"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=131912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}