In a D.C. blitz, Platner delved into his past for skittish Democrats.
Embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner told Democratic senators he has a plan to win in Maine and answered questions about his personal history at a meeting at the party’s Senate headquarters on Tuesday.
Read more Nick Castellanos says he stayed true to his heart during his bumpy, 4-year Phillies tenure
“I’m very optimistic we’re going to win Maine,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York), the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, as she left the gathering. “It was a good meeting.”
Platner, a Democrat, met in Washington with the handful of Democratic senators, and earlier, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-New York), as he weathers questions about his marital conduct.
A former top aide for Platner told the New York Times last week that Platner sent sexually explicit texts to multiple women after he was married in 2023. Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, raised the issue to the aide last year as a potential political liability for Platner.
Both Platner, a combat veteran, and his wife have cast the texting as a personal matter within their marriage that they have dealt with. But the revelations have revived anxiety among Democrats about their untested candidate in the marquee Senate race, which is key to Democrats’ hope of flipping the Senate.
Platner has already faced questions about a trove of provocative social media posts he deleted that downplayed the seriousness of sexual assault and insulted rural Mainers and police officers. Early in his campaign, he also got a tattoo on his chest covered up that resembled a Nazi symbol. He said he didn’t know the connotation when he received the tattoo, and disavowed many of his Reddit comments as the product of untreated post-traumatic stress disorder following his tours in Iraq.
Privately, Democrats remain worried that more negative stories could be coming.
Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vermont) sounded noncommittal as he left Tuesday’s gathering. “It’s going to be up to the voters of Maine,” Welch said when asked if he was reassured by the meeting.
Schumer dodged multiple questions from reporters after he spoke with Platner.
The Democratic leader repeated the same answer as journalists asked him whether he believed Platner’s texting took away from Democrats’ attempts to criticize the Republican Senate candidate in Texas, Ken Paxton, whose wife accused him of infidelity, and whether he still supported Platner. “We’re going to beat Susan Collins and take back the Senate,” Schumer said again and again.
Read more Same stadium, new name: Why World Cup venues are getting rebranded for the tournament
“Any other subject?” he asked.
Still, many Democrats who support the progressive firebrand argue that his scandals do not resonate with Maine voters who are simply looking for a candidate who will change the culture in Washington.
“The electorate is looking for candidates who will take bold and clear stands and be willing to challenge the powers that be,’ said Rep. Ro Khanna (D-California), who is appearing with him on Friday in Bar Harbor, Maine, for a rally. “That is the political character test.”
Republicans have seized on Platner’s recent troubles to put other Democrats on the spot. Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-Louisiana) blasted the “Platner wing of the Democratic Party,” on the Senate floor this week.
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania), who frequently criticizes his party, slammed Platner, comparing his behavior to that of former congressman Eric Swalwell (D-California), who dropped out of the California gubernatorial race in April over misconduct allegations. “I mean, what’s next?” he asked reporters.
Platner is heavily favored to win the Democratic primary next week, after Democratic Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign earlier this spring, saying she had run out of money. Mills, however, has been reminding Maine voters that her name will still be on the ballot, and some of her supporters are encouraging people to still back her.
“It’s important for us to focus on the issues facing working families a little bit more than Graham Platner’s marriage,” said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). “And my understanding is that his wife Amy, who I have had the opportunity to meet and seems to me to be a very, very lovely woman, is standing by her husband. And I wish their marriage the very best.”
Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Arizona), who has also endorsed Platner, said Americans will pay more attention to high prices of gas and groceries than Platner’s marriage. “They’re not going to care about text messages and everything else like that that happened years ago, especially when it was worked out between spouses,” Gallego said.
Read more Pentagon hires convicted Jan. 6 rioter for sensitive counterterrorism job
