A former top aide to Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is going public against him as voters head to the polls on Tuesday in Maine.
In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Genevieve McDonald, who was Platner’s political director early in his campaign, went month-by-month and detailed her growing concerns and resignation.
It came out before Maine Democrats go to the polls to choose a challenger to Maine Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
“Graham Platner is not someone who would be good for Maine or for the country,” McDonald declared.
She wrote: “I quit the campaign in October, disturbed by what I learned about the candidate and concerned about his potential impact on the Democratic Party’s prospects in my home state. As Tuesday’s primary arrives, I want to make clear what transpired since August and why my concerns have only grown.”
McDonald accused Platner of displaying “a pattern of dishonest behavior that is impossible to ignore,” arguing that successive controversies have undermined his assurances that no further damaging revelations would emerge.
“Despite being exposed by a series of scandals beginning last October, he kept assuring voters and the Democratic Party that there were no more skeletons in his closet,” she continued.
“Then more emerged – the latest, in recent days, have involved former girlfriends’ serious accusations of physical mistreatment,” she said.
Platner, a 41-year-old oyster farmer and Marine veteran, is facing a firestorm of allegations that critics say expose deep character flaws and raise serious questions about his fitness for high office.
Platner has been dogged by revelations involving explicit texts to other women during his marriage, a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol, inflammatory old Reddit posts, and accusations from ex-girlfriends of demeaning and physically threatening conduct.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, whom he married in 2023, discovered sexually explicit text messages between her husband and several other women early in their marriage.
She flagged the messages to his Senate campaign last year to get ahead of any potential scandal.
Platner has acknowledged sending the messages but faces ongoing scrutiny over the timing and extent of the communications, which reportedly involved as many as a dozen women.
A New York Times investigation detailed accounts from multiple ex-partners who described Platner’s behavior as “unsettling,” “reckless,” and “toxic.”
One former girlfriend, Lyndsey Fifield, alleged that during an argument years ago, Platner twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom, and held the door shut while telling her to “calm down.”
Other women recalled him being demeaning toward women, heavy drinking, and emotionally volatile relationships.
Platner has denied any physical violence, calling himself a “bad boyfriend” in the past while attributing issues to PTSD from his service in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Further controversy surrounds a tattoo Platner got in 2007 during a night of drinking in Croatia.
It featured imagery resembling the Nazi Totenkopf skull, which he later covered up.
While Platner claims he was unaware of its Nazi associations until recently, some ex-girlfriends and former campaign aides insist he knew.
Old Reddit posts under the username “P-Hustle,” many now deleted, have also resurfaced.
In them, Platner allegedly downplayed sexual assault, suggesting victims “take some responsibility” by avoiding alcohol and “act like an adult.”
He reportedly called Maine voters he hopes to represent “racist” and “stupid,” used slurs, criticized police, and made other crude remarks.
Platner has blamed the posts on his post-service struggles with depression and self-medication.
The scandals have triggered staff departures and unease among some national Democrats, even as figures like Sen. Bernie Sanders have continued to back him.
Platner claims the attacks are politically motivated and that he has grown from his past.
Maine Democrats appear poised to nominate him anyway, but Republicans are already gearing up to highlight the baggage in the general election against Collins.
