Graham Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, publicly denounced media reports alleging her husband had previously exchanged sexually explicit text messages with multiple women, labeling the coverage “shameful” over the weekend.
This marks the latest controversy to embroil the Maine Democrat’s high-stakes Senate campaign.
In a five-minute video posted by Platner, Gertner, who reportedly informed his campaign of the text messages last year, avoided directly addressing the content of the alleged communications. Instead, she dismissed the broader media attention as “gossip” and acknowledged the difficulties inherent in marriage.
“I find it really shameful that there’s a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip,” she stated in the informal, selfie-style recording as she walked along a road.
“No marriage is perfect, and I don’t want a perfect marriage. I want my marriage.”
Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, is currently vying for the Democratic nomination in one of the nation’s most closely watched Senate races. Democrats are hoping to unseat longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins in their bid to gain control of the narrowly divided Senate.
Maine’s primary election is scheduled for June 9.
The allegations surfaced publicly when Genevieve McDonald, a former campaign staffer for Platner, told The Associated Press that the candidate was “sexting multiple women while married” and that “the campaign tried to assess that as an election vulnerability.”
Responding to reporters on Sunday, Platner denied McDonald’s claims. When pressed on whether he was confirming the non-existence of the text messages, Platner replied, “I’m confirming that what Genevieve McDonald said in The New York Times is not true.”
He did not offer further specifics, referring to a New York Times story that named McDonald on Saturday, following an initial report by The Wall Street Journal.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Gertner had informed the campaign in August about the messages, which she discovered on his phone last year, to preemptively address any potential liability. Platner’s campaign team reportedly concluded that the texts were a private matter being handled by the couple, who married in 2023.
Gertner has stated that they are currently in counseling. Platner reiterated to reporters that while he and Gertner had discussed their marriage with the campaign, McDonald’s claims remained false.
Platner’s campaign did not specifically confirm the text messages to the AP on Sunday but released a statement from Gertner. In it, she described the disclosure of her conversations with a campaign aide as a betrayal that “deeply hurt.”
“I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives — the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind,” she wrote.
This is not the first time Platner, who has never held public office, has faced controversy. Known for his gruff, less conventional approach on the campaign trail and a platform centered on economic equality, he has previously had to address past statements and actions.
These include a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, which he claimed he did not realize until several weeks into his campaign, and former Reddit posts that were dismissive of military sexual assaults and contained homophobic slurs, for which he has since apologized.
Platner’s campaign had weathered these earlier revelations in what was initially considered a highly competitive Democratic primary.
The field narrowed significantly after Governor Janet Mills withdrew from the race in late April due to a lack of campaign funds. Mills, a two-term governor, had been viewed as a top Democratic recruit for the 2026 Senate race before her campaign faltered.
Despite ongoing controversies, Platner continues to draw support from prominent Democrats, including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, as well as Representatives Ruben Gallego and Ro Khanna.
Khanna is scheduled to rally with Platner on Friday, and thus far, the latest texting allegations do not appear to have cost him any endorsements.
Two Democratic senators, when questioned by reporters on Sunday, declined to address the topic directly.
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut told CBS’s “Face the Nation” that Platner had served his country and community but “also made mistakes and he has admitted that.”
On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Senator Andy Kim of New Jersey also sidestepped the issue, stating, “With any campaign in the country, the character and the transparency about the different candidates is going to come out, and the voters are going to decide what they ultimately think.”
Barreling forward, Platner posted a video on X on Sunday from an event “happening now,” showing him entering a room to a standing ovation from enthusiastic supporters.
Questions regarding whether additional controversial information about Platner could still emerge have heightened anxiety among some Democrats about his prospects in a general election against Senator Collins, who has represented Maine in the Senate since 1997.
In October, following the revelation of his Totenkopf tattoo, which he promptly had covered, the AP asked Platner if he anticipated further scandals.
Platner responded that he expected his opponents were “going to keep dragging things up.” He added, “They’re going to keep making things up. I fully expect people to just lie about me at this point.”
Voters are already familiar with the couple’s personal struggles, including their challenges with infertility and their travels abroad to afford IVF treatment, topics they have openly discussed on the campaign trail.
In late April, Platner shared that Gertner had suffered a miscarriage, and he has also spoken about his own mental health struggles and the supportive roles of his family and therapist.
Genevieve McDonald, who initially served as Platner’s political director, resigned a few months later when his now-deleted Reddit posts began to surface, stating she could no longer support him as a candidate.
She subsequently declined a severance offer from the campaign that would have required her to sign a non-disclosure agreement. On Saturday, McDonald wrote on Facebook that Platner’s campaign had “demanded” she retract her statements to The Wall Street Journal, threatening to accuse her of violating the couple’s trust.
Although McDonald was not named in the newspaper’s article, she said that after this exchange, she chose to be publicly identified in a New York Times story.
“His consultants greatly overestimate how much I do not aspire to be them,” she wrote on Facebook. After leaving Platner’s campaign, McDonald moved to assist Democrat Jordan Wood’s congressional campaign in Maine’s Second District.
McDonald submitted her resignation from Wood’s campaign on Saturday morning, according to Wood’s campaign. Wood had endorsed Platner after Mills withdrew from the Senate race.
