Graham Platner was supposed to be the Democrat who finally unseated Susan Collins. Instead, the oyster farmer turned Senate candidate now faces a cascade of personal controversies, sexually explicit messages, ex-girlfriend allegations, a tattoo linked to Nazi imagery, and a schooling claim that doesn't check out, and his own party is openly questioning whether he can survive the race.
The Hill reported that Democrats are increasingly worried Platner is becoming a liability in one of the most critical Senate contests of the cycle. The Maine seat is one of a handful of toss-up races, and Democrats almost certainly need Platner to defeat Collins to win back the Senate majority.
That math makes the current trajectory all the more damaging. Just weeks ago, Democrats felt good about their position. Polls showed Platner ahead. Now, strategists from the party's own ranks are using words like "utterly exasperated" to describe the mood.
The trouble started in earnest when Platner confronted revelations about sexually explicit messages he sent to women while married. His wife, Amy Gertner, responded earlier this week, calling the situation "shameful" but standing by her husband. Platner traveled to Washington to meet with Democratic senators as the news broke, a trip that suggests the party establishment wanted to take the man's measure before deciding how deep to wade in.
Then, Thursday evening, The New York Times published a story in which several former girlfriends cast Platner in a sharply negative light. Lyndsey Fifield, a Virginia conservative who said she dated Platner from 2013 to 2015, told the Times that Platner would discuss violence and could be rough with her, though she emphasized he did not hit or punch her. Fifield also alleged that Platner knew before the tattoo controversy swelled last year that his now-covered tattoo resembled a Nazi symbol, claiming he referred to it as "my Totenkopf."
The fallout from those sexually explicit text-message allegations has been swift and widening.
Platner appeared on MSNBC, where host Chris Hayes asked him directly whether he had considered dropping out. Platner said no, "Not once." He denied "anything alleging physicality" and "anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was." But he acknowledged a troubled personal history in terms that are becoming a familiar refrain from the candidate.
"In this piece, there's a lot about my struggling, not being a good boyfriend, certainly self-medicating with alcohol, and I've been very upfront since the beginning of this campaign that that was a pretty dark period of my life after I came back from my combat service."
Platner added that there were things in the reporting he would "take responsibility for," but called the more serious allegations "just not true."
The personal-conduct stories might have been manageable in isolation. But a separate report this week from the Maine Monitor and Bangor Daily News raised questions about a different kind of credibility gap. Platner claimed in October that he attended private schooling because his public school lost accreditation around 1999. The Maine Monitor found the school has been accredited since 1987, more than a decade before Platner says the supposed lapse occurred.
Jim Melcher, a political science professor at the University of Maine at Farmington, put a fine point on the accumulating problem.
"He's always saying 'it was a bad period of my life.' Well, you know, that doesn't play as well about things that have happened in the last three or four years."
That observation captures the core difficulty for Platner. A candidate can ask voters for grace over youthful mistakes. It is harder to ask for grace when the timeline keeps stretching closer to the present, and when verifiable claims about your own biography turn out to be false.
Before the latest wave of stories, Platner held a comfortable lead. A University of New Hampshire survey in late May showed him up 9 points over Collins, 51 percent to 42 percent. A UMass Lowell/YouGov poll released Thursday, based on data collected before the sexting and other allegations, had Platner at 48 percent and Collins at 43 percent, with 6 percent undecided.
On Wednesday, the Platner campaign released its own internal poll through Public Policy Polling, showing a 4-point lead over Collins. Analyst Nate Silver called the result "not super reassuring," noting that internal polls typically exaggerate a candidate's standing by about 4 points. If Silver's rule of thumb holds, the internal data suggests something closer to a dead heat, and that was before the Times report landed.
None of these polls captured voter reaction to the ex-girlfriend allegations, the schooling fabrication, or the renewed tattoo questions. The numbers Democrats have been citing may already be outdated.
The cracks within the party are no longer confined to private conversations. Cheyenne Hunt, former executive director of Gen Z for Change, withdrew her endorsement of Platner on Thursday. Hunt had previously helped organize against former Rep. Eric Swalwell amid sexual assault allegations in the California governor's race, giving her withdrawal added weight.
"I gave Platner a glowing endorsement when he launched his campaign for Senate because I believed in his vision for an economy that actually serves working Americans. But the information that has since come to light is inexcusable."
Hunt is not alone. Some Democrats in Congress have gone further, openly questioning whether Platner should remain in the race at all.
Democratic strategist Joel Payne framed the stakes bluntly. If the election becomes a referendum on Platner rather than on Collins, the Democrat loses. "And there's no way he's going to win a referendum on himself," Payne said. "He's got to make sure that when Maine voters go to the ballot, they ask, 'Am I really comfortable with Susan Collins for another six years?'" Payne's verdict on the campaign's current trajectory: "They've lost the thread on that."
Another Democratic strategist, Steve Schale, described himself as "utterly exasperated" and appeared ready to look elsewhere. "I'm glad I don't live in Maine, and there are 5 other viable pick-up opportunities," Schale said, pointing to states like North Carolina and Ohio.
Christy Setzer, also a Democratic strategist, offered a more cautious assessment. "The Platner stuff is tricky," she said. "On one hand, he's asking a lot of supporters to stand by him while allegations of inappropriate behavior continue to drop. On the other hand, I've worked in Maine and Mainers sure don't like it when outsiders tell them how to feel about one of their own."
Hovering over the entire mess is Janet Mills, Maine's governor, who suspended her Senate campaign in late April. The Cook Political Report described Mills's departure as "a stunning flameout" for a candidate national Democrats "had hailed as their long-sought answer" to unseat Collins. Mills had been one of Chuck Schumer's top recruits.
But Mills reminded Mainers this past week that she has not actually left the ballot. She told the Portland Press Herald: "People have the impression that I 'withdrew' or 'dropped out,' but I simply suspended active campaigning. I am still on the ballot."
That statement hangs in the air like an open invitation, or a warning. If Platner's position deteriorates further, Democrats may find themselves wishing Mills had never stepped aside. As it stands, her presence on the ballot introduces an unpredictable variable into a primary that was supposed to be settled.
Meanwhile, intra-party criticism has sharpened, with some prominent Democrats publicly questioning why the party continues to stand behind Platner.
For Sen. Susan Collins, the five-term Republican running in a state where President Trump has repeatedly lost, Platner's troubles amount to an unexpected reprieve. Melcher, the University of Maine professor, called the controversies "a gift" for Collins, though he cautioned that "it's way too soon to say whether or not it's going to hurt him in the general election."
Collins has called the ex-girlfriends' accounts "troubling" and said Platner must answer questions about his conduct, a measured response that lets the stories do the work without overplaying her hand.
Melcher noted that Platner's base appears dug in. He described the candidate as "even more dedicated" and said Platner "feels goaded to stay the course more than anything, because I think he and his supporters feel like they've gotten a bad deal out of all of this, and it kind of feeds their 'fight the oligarchy' themes."
But defiance is not the same as viability. "People keep asking me: 'Is he going to drop out?'" Melcher said. "No, he is not going anywhere unless something else drops, and I think that's what the fear was in Washington."
Sexually explicit texts. Ex-girlfriends going on the record with troubling accounts. A tattoo controversy that won't die. A schooling claim contradicted by decades of accreditation records. Each story on its own might be survivable. Together, they form a pattern that asks voters to extend trust to a candidate who keeps needing to explain himself.
Democrats bet heavily on Platner after Mills stepped aside. They needed a candidate who could make the race about Collins. Instead, they got a candidate who keeps making the race about himself, and not in any way that helps.
When the people running your campaign have to release an internal poll just to prove you're still competitive, and the nation's most prominent polling analyst calls the result "not super reassuring," the trajectory is clear enough. The question is whether Democrats in Washington will keep riding this bet or start looking for the exit. Maine voters, meanwhile, are watching, and they tend to remember when candidates can't keep their stories straight.
