As Democrats worry about Senate race, Platner attacks reports about sexual messages

Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine, struck a defiant posture Sunday in response to reports that he had sent sexual messages to women outside his marriage, accusing a former aide of false claims and news outlets of “journalistic malpractice.”

Read more Why a judge rejected New Hampshire’s proof-of-citizenship law for voter registration

In his first public comments on the matter, Platner said “establishment media outlets” were focused on “gossip” instead of issues such as the shuttering of childcare facilities, low wages for teachers and nurses and “the fact that everybody down here continues to work harder and longer and get less.”

He sought to discredit news reports about the messages. Asked by reporters whether they were true, he said: “No. This is the amazing part. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times ran stories without any evidence besides the gossip from a former staffer. I’m sorry, that’s — that’s frankly journalistic malpractice. We pushed back on it.”

The Times report, which was published Saturday, cited a current campaign official as well as a former one. Both said that Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, had told the former campaign official, Genevieve McDonald, soon after he began his bid, that he had exchanged sexual messages with multiple other women.

The current official, who was granted anonymity because she was not authorized to speak on the record, said Sunday evening that Platner was not disputing that there had been discussions of sexual messages he had sent to other women while married, but rather the number of women involved.

Read more Konsta Helenius scores in overtime, Finland wins hockey world championship over Switzerland

The Times article quoted McDonald — a onetime state legislator who was the Platner campaign’s political director before leaving in October — who said that he had exchanged messages with as many as a dozen women. And it noted that the current campaign official had said Platner had been communicating with up to six women.

Platner said McDonald was not being truthful in her account. McDonald declined to comment. In a statement Sunday evening, Platner addressed his marriage.

“Amy and I went through something hard — because of me. We did the work, and I’m grateful for her every hour of every day,” Platner said in the statement.

The Maine Senate seat is seen as a key to the Democrats’ hopes of winning control of the Senate. Platner is trying to unseat Senator Susan Collins, a moderate Republican, in a state that President Trump lost by about 7 percentage points in 2024.

Read more Providence isn’t an official World Cup host. But it sure is acting like one.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.