A Maine Democratic Senate candidate could see his campaign upended after his wife revealed he had sent sexually explicit messages to several women while they were desperately trying to conceive through IVF.
Graham Platner, 40, is hoping to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins, but the Bernie Sanders-backed candidate, who has run his campaign on making healthcare affordable, could face a setback after scandalous texts were disclosed.
His wife, Amy Gertner, had told his campaign last year that she had found her husband talking to at least six women via text, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. She disclosed the information to Genevieve McDonald, who served as Platner's political director until October, the NYT reported.
Gertner considered McDonald a friend and told her the information just before Platner was scheduled to join a rally with Sanders over Labor Day weekend, as she feared it might become a liability, the WSJ said. Aides decided the messages were a private matter, and the rally proceeded as planned, a campaign official told the WSJ.
The couple addressed the issue through marriage counseling, and the texts have never been made public. 'We did the hard work that marriage requires,' Gertner said through her husband's campaign. 'We were honest with each other in ways that weren't easy. And we came through it, not in spite of how much we've been through, but because of how much we love each other and the life we've built.'
The wife, who is employed by her husband's campaign, insisted her marriage to the oyster farmer was 'stronger than ever before.' 'I know who Graham is. I know the man I married and the husband he has been to me on the best and the worst days of my life. That hasn't changed, and it won't,' she said.
The texts emerged as the couple navigated IVF while struggling to conceive, she told the Bangor Daily News in January. They underwent reproductive treatment in Norway, as the cost in the US far exceeded their financial means, she said. Platner, a veteran, was unable to get assistance from the VA. 'He has A+ sperm,' his wife told the outlet. 'So the VA is not giving us any money.' The couple's journey to conceive has become a key part of the Democrat's campaign.
The couple met in 2021 while in other relationships but later reconnected on Bumble, a dating app. They dated for six months before marrying in 2023 and soon began trying for a child.
The explicit texts are not the first scandal for the aspiring father since launching his Senate campaign. He had to delete an old Reddit account that included comments downplaying sexual assault and vulgar remarks about sex workers, the WSJ reported. He also reportedly made comments suggesting lenient views on infidelity. In one post, he reportedly wrote about 'getting wasted and bragging about all the chicks he was slaying who weren't his wife' at a local bar, the WSJ reported. 'I've got a pretty flexible moral compass when it comes to those things,' he reportedly said. He also admitted to having a Nazi tattoo, which he has since covered up, the outlet said.
