Graham Platner’s wife told campaign of his past explicit texts to other women, according to report
As he turns his attention to facing Republican Senator Susan Collins in November, Graham Platner is confronting more tough scrutiny of his past.
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On Saturday, the Wall Street Journal reported that shortly after Platner launched his US Senate bid last August, his wife, Amy Gertner, revealed to a campaign aide that she had discovered sexually explicit texts with several women on his phone months earlier.
According to the Journal, Gertner told the campaign aide about the texts to flag a possible risk to Platner’s candidacy. Ultimately, the campaign’s braintrust decided it was a private issue, and they moved forward with a scheduled rally with Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who was a crucial early backer of Platner.
In a statement provided to the Globe via Platner’s campaign, Gertner said she confided those details to “someone I considered a friend” and accused the person of going on to “spread malicious gossip to anyone who would take her call.” (Gertner did not name the person she accused of this conduct.)
Gertner said that she and her husband “did the hard work that marriage requires” and went to counseling.
“We were honest with each other in ways that weren’t easy. And we came through it, not in spite of how much we’ve been through, but because of how much we love each other and the life we’ve built,” she said. “Our marriage today is stronger than ever before.
“I know who Graham is. I know the man I married and the husband he has been to me on the best and the worst days of my life. That hasn’t changed, and it won’t,” Gertner said.
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In a story posted shortly after, the New York Times confirmed the Journal report, adding that Gertner had disclosed the details to Genevieve McDonald, a Democratic state lawmaker who was an early aide to Platner before resigning in October. According to the Times, Gertner told McDonald that Platner had been sending explicit texts with as many as a dozen women; a Platner official told the paper it was up to six women.
Since Platner entered Maine’s nationally-watched Senate race last year, a number of explosive revelations have been unearthed about his past conduct — from inflammatory social media posts to a tattoo of a Nazi symbol he had on his chest for many years.
The difference now is Platner is the presumptive Democratic nominee in Maine. Despite his controversies, he boxed out Governor Janet Mills from the primary after she failed to blunt his momentum in polls and fundraising. Mills suspended her campaign last month, clearing Platner’s path to the nomination in the June 9 primary election. (A third candidate, David Costello, remains in the race, though he has badly trailed Platner and Mills in polling and fundraising.)
Democrats’ hopes of defeating Collins — and taking back the Senate — now rest on Platner’s shoulders. Many Maine Democrats have been impressed by his grassroots movement and populist political appeal. Independent polls so far have shown him defeating Collins in November.
But Collins, who has fended off many Democratic challengers before, has never faced a foe with as much energy behind him as Platner — or anywhere near as much baggage. Since last year, Republican groups have relentlessly promoted negative stories about Platner’s past that have appeared in conservative as well as mainstream media outlets. Their efforts dramatically intensified after Mills bowed out of the race.
Indeed, on Saturday, the Senate GOP’s official campaign arm blasted out the Journal story less than an hour after it had been posted online.
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