6 Good Questions in Light of Platner’s Sexting Scandal |
A few weeks ago, the New York Times published an interview with Maine’s scandal-plagued but resilient Democratic Senate candidate, Graham Platner, and the second question was “Is there something new you want to get ahead of?” He answered “No.”
On Saturday, the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both reported that Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, had acknowledged to a campaign staffer last year that Platner had in the past sent sexts to multiple women while they were married. Days later, the fallout is continuing, particularly after Platner, his wife, and allies attempted to shift blame for the story, and at least some prominent Democrats have publicly criticized Platner. The insurgent candidate has weathered multiple previous storms over his past behavior, and at least according to polls before this one, he still has a good chance of ousting Susan Collins in the fall. Now, his seemingly vanquished primary opponent, Governor Janet Mills, is reminding people that “I am still on the ballot.” Will this scandal be the one that breaks Platner’s campaign, or is it just another big pothole in an already bumpy road? Below is a roundup of some of the commentary and analysis since the sext reports landed.
. Will this “feel different” to Maine voters?
In an X thread, Alex Seitz-Wald notes a different reaction to this Platner scandal than previous ones, possibly because this isn’t some long-ago transgression:
Voter reaction I’m hearing so far in Maine feels different than Reddit/tattoo. Supporters were quick to brush those off, but this is raising doubts about whether he really is reformed, even among people who still plan to vote for him. “I feel sickened that I have vote for him.”Plenty of people willing to give him a pass — “Amy Gertner has responded that the marriage is strong and she fully supports her husband. That’s enough for me” — but feels less than when I literally could not find anyone in Oct who said the Reddit/tatoo scandal changed their voteThat said, Platner has lock on the Dem nomination, we’re a long way from November, we’re a D 4 state, and Dems have tailwind. A vote with nose held counts as much as one with a smile. So may not matter in final outcome, but next 5 months for Maine Dems could be extremely unfun.
Voter reaction I’m hearing so far in Maine feels different than Reddit/tattoo. Supporters were quick to brush those off, but this is raising doubts about whether he really is reformed, even among people who still plan to vote for him. “I feel sickened that I have vote for him.”
Plenty of people willing to give him a pass — “Amy Gertner has responded that the marriage is strong and she fully supports her husband. That’s enough for me” — but feels less than when I literally could not find anyone in Oct who said the Reddit/tatoo scandal changed their vote
That said, Platner has lock on the Dem nomination, we’re a long way from November, we’re a D 4 state, and Dems have tailwind. A vote with nose held counts as much as one with a smile. So may not matter in final outcome, but next 5 months for Maine Dems could be extremely unfun.
And there’s the perceived dishonesty:
People were willing to overlook the tattoo on the belief that Platner was telling the truth. The Reddit posts were all years old. The sexting is different because it shows bad behavior and that he was dishonest as recently as 2023.At the same time, this was just texted to me. https://t.co/cYbG6tA1Fy pic.twitter.com/z4oEjMi2It— Anthony Emerson❤️🌲🦞🇾🇪🌹 (@AnthonyMEmerson) June 1, 2026
People were willing to overlook the tattoo on the belief that Platner was telling the truth. The Reddit posts were all years old. The sexting is different because it shows bad behavior and that he was dishonest as recently as 2023.At the same time, this was just texted to me. https://t.co/cYbG6tA1Fy pic.twitter.com/z4oEjMi2It
Or will other issues still matter more?
Comments Pod Save America’s Jon Favreau:
I’d just say that if the reason you don’t want to support a candidate is because he and his wife chose not to share that they went through marriage counseling to deal with infidelity, that’s your choice. But I do think there are other factors in the race that will have more of a direct impact on your life.
I’d just say that if the reason you don’t want to support a candidate is because he and his wife chose not to share that they went through marriage counseling to deal with infidelity, that’s your choice. But I do think there are other factors in the race that will have more of a direct impact on your life.
And Matt Stoller likes how unpolished Platner is:
I like that he’s messy. The rule following perfect resume ladder climbing Harvard law grads are the actually lizard people creeps. https://t.co/OBy2JHGKYI— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) May 31, 2026
I like that he’s messy. The rule following perfect resume ladder climbing Harvard law grads are the actually lizard people creeps. https://t.co/OBy2JHGKYI
And then there is the he’s-better-than-Collins camp. Jill Fillpovic writes in an X thread that “I’ve never been much of a Platner fan, mostly because he just seems like kind of a dingo and a liability to the party and someone people like because people fetishize the white working class man no matter his actual capabilities or biography - I get Fetterman vibes,” but she adds that based on what we know now, Collins is still worse:
[He’s] the presumptive candidate and at this point there probably isn’t gonna be anyone else. And so the question isn’t Platner vs ???? it’s Platner vs Susan Collins. Which doesn’t mean that discussion of Platner’s flaws is off limits. But let’s please differentiate between consensual sexting and sexual assault or harassment. This is not the same as “grab ‘em by the pussy.” It’s not in the same league. We can still criticize Platner’s behavior and question his judgment. I certainly wish Dems had a better candidate. But we live in........