Graham Platner's wife called reports that her husband had previously exchanged sexually explicit text messages with several women "shameful" over the weekend, the latest controversy to hit the Maine Democrat's whirlwind campaign.
Platner, an oyster farmer and combat veteran, posted a video taken by his wife, Amy Gertner, who reportedly told his campaign of the text messages last year. In the five minute video, Gertner avoided speaking directly about her husband's reported texts, dubbing the broader coverage as "gossip" and saying that "being married is hard."
"I find it really shameful that there's a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip," she said in the informal, selfie-style video where she walked along a road. "No marriage is perfect, and I don't want a perfect marriage. I want my marriage."
Platner is seeking the Democratic nomination for one of the most closely-watched Senate races as Democrats hope to defeat longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in the party's efforts to win control of the closely divided Senate. The Maine primary is June 9.
The texts were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, which wrote that Gertner had told the campaign in August about the messages she had found on Platner's phone earlier in their marriage. The New York Times, which also published a story Saturday about the texts, named former aide Genevieve McDonald as one of the then-campaign staffers who confirmed the messages.
Both newspapers reported that Gertner wanted to ensure the texts didn't pose a political liability to the novice candidate. Platner's campaign team eventually decided that the texts were private and being handled by the couple, who were married in 2023. The two are in counseling, Gertner has said.
Platner's campaign on Sunday did not specifically confirm the text messages to The Associated Press, but issued a statement from Gertner saying the disclosure of the conversations she had with a campaign aide was 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.
It's not Platner's first controversy
Platner, who has never held public office, has a gruff, less buttoned-up approach on the campaign trail, fashioned a platform around economic equality and has already had to navigate statements that surfaced from his past.
The candidate had a tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol, which he said he didn't realize until he was several weeks into the campaign. There's also been much attention on his former Reddit posts, which were dismissive of military sexual assaults and used homophobic slurs, for which he has apologized.
READ MORE: Maine Senate candidate Platner says tattoo recognized as Nazi symbol has been covered
Platner's campaign weathered those earlier revelations in what had been considered one of the most competitive Democratic primaries before Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the race in late April due to a lack of campaign funds. Mills, a two-term governor, had been seen as one of the Democrats' top 2026 recruits when she entered the Senate race before her campaign fizzled out.
Platner has still pulled support from big name Democrats, including Sens. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Ruben Gallego as well as U.S. House Rep. Ro Khanna. The latter is scheduled to rally with Platner Friday, and so far, it appears he hasn't lost any endorsements with this latest texting revelation.
Two Democratic senators on Sunday declined to directly address the topic when pressed by reporters. Connecticut's Sen. Chris Murphy told Face the Nation that Platner had served his country and community, but "also made mistakes and he has admitted that." Meanwhile, on CNN's State of the Union Sunday, New Jersey's Sen. Andy Kim sidestepped giving his personal opinions of the reports about Platner.
"With any campaign in the country, the character and the transparency about the different candidates is going to come out," said Kim, "and the voters are going to decide what they ultimately think."
Barreling forward Sunday, Platner posted a video on X from an event "happening now" where he entered a room to a standing ovation from ecstatic supporters.
Questions over whether additional controversial information about Platner could still surface have added to some Democrats' anxiety over his chances in a general election against Collins, who has represented Maine in the Senate since 1997.
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In October, after the revelation that he once had a Totenkopf tattoo on his chest and promptly had it covered, the AP asked him if other scandals were on the horizon.
Platner said he was expecting his opponents were "going to keep dragging things up."
"They're go to keep making things up," he said "I fully expect people to just lie about me at this point."
Voters are familiar with the couple's struggles, including with infertility and travelling out of the country to afford IVF treatment, which they've discussed on the campaign trail.
In late April, Platner shared that Gertner had suffered a miscarriage, and he's discussed his own mental health struggles and the role of his family and therapist in helping.
Former aide explains why she went public
McDonald initially worked on Platner's campaign as his political director and resigned a few months later when his now-deleted Reddit posts began surfacing, saying she couldn't stand behind him as a candidate. She later declined a severance offer from the campaign in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement.
On Saturday, McDonald wrote on Facebook that Platner's campaign had "demanded" she retract her statements she had made to The Wall Street Journal or his team would accuse her of violating the couple's trust. That's when she said she made the choice to be publicly named in The New York Times story.
McDonald did not immediately respond to a text and phone call from the AP on Sunday.
"His consultants greatly overestimate how much I do not aspire to be them," she wrote on Facebook.
After resigning from Platner's campaign, McDonald moved to help Democrat Jordan Wood's congressional campaign in Maine's second district. McDonald submitted her resignation from Wood's campaign Saturday morning, according to Wood's campaign.
Wood endorsed Platner after Mills dropped out.
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Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas and Kruesi reported from Providence, Rhode Island.