Maine Platner Sanders
Graham Platner, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks at an event hosted by Sen. Bernie Sanders in Orono, Maine, Sunday, May 24, 2026.
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Platner's wife calls news coverage of Senate hopeful's sexually explicit texts with women 'shameful'
Graham Platner’s wife has responded to news reports about his alleged sexually explicit texts with several women. This controversy adds to Platner's campaign challenges as he seeks the Democratic nomination in Maine to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins. On Saturday night, Platner posted a video of his wife, Amy Gertner, on X. In it, she called the coverage “gossip” and said that “no marriage is perfect.” The Wall Street Journal first reported the texts, noting Gertner informed the campaign in August. Campaign staff at the time decided the texts were private and being managed by the couple.
Maine Senate hopeful Graham Platner has hosted his first major campaign event since media reports surfaced that he previously exchanged sexually explicit text messages with several women while he was married. He addressed that and other scandals, calling them “politically motivated, serious and false accusations." And he said, "Maine, you have my back.” Platner, an oyster farmer and progressive activist, is key to the Democrats' hopes to take back the U.S. Senate this year as the party needs him to defeat longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Platner appeared in Bar Harbor on Friday with progressive Rep. Ro Khanna of California and a pair of Democratic Maine candidates.
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