The Democratic campaign strategist brought in to manage fallout from Graham Platner's sexting scandals has a record of his own, one that includes public writings about sending and receiving nude photos and a puberty guide that referenced using images of his own anatomy as illustrations.
Morris Katz, a 27-year-old New York City Democratic operative credited with helping engineer Zohran Mamdani's upset mayoral victory, is now drawing scrutiny from Maine Republicans after his past writings resurfaced. The timing could hardly be worse for Democrats trying to mount a credible challenge to incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
The controversy lands on a campaign already staggering under the weight of allegations involving sexually explicit messages, abuse claims, a tattoo linked to Nazi imagery, and inflammatory old Reddit posts, all tied to Platner himself. Now the man tasked with containing that damage has his own baggage spilling into public view.
In 2019, amid a separate Democratic sexting scandal, Katz published a post on Medium in which he acknowledged that he had both "sent" and "received nudes," Fox News Digital reported. The post, still accessible on the platform, was written in the context of then-Rep. Katie Hill's resignation.
A year later, Katz authored a puberty guide for boys. Page 17 of that 2020 guide included a footnote in which Katz wrote that he had initially considered using "images of my penis" to illustrate the material, before the publisher told him it was inappropriate.
That a publisher had to be the one to draw that line tells you something about the judgment involved.
Maine Republicans seized on the writings over the past week. Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine Republican Party, told Fox News Digital that the pairing of Katz and Platner defies belief. As Savage put it:
"The combination of Morris Katz and Graham Platner is this weird horror story where neither one of them really understands the guardrails on decency. Neither one of them can recognize when there is a boundary."
Platner emerged as a progressive challenger to Collins, but his candidacy has been dogged by controversies almost from the start. Reports alleged he exchanged sexually explicit messages with multiple women early in his marriage using Kik, an anonymous messaging app that has faced its own scrutiny over child-safety concerns and predatory behavior.
Platner's wife, Amy Gertner, reportedly disclosed those messages to campaign officials during an internal vetting process. The revelations did not stay internal for long.
Then came a tattoo that critics identified as a Nazi-linked symbol. Platner said he was unaware of the association when he got the tattoo years ago. But Genevieve McDonald contested that claim, saying Platner had been aware of the symbol's meaning for some time. That contradiction, Platner's word against McDonald's, remains unresolved.
Old Reddit posts attributed to Platner containing inflammatory comments added another layer. Platner has said his views have changed and that some past comments reflected a darker period in his life after military service. He also denied allegations from a former girlfriend who accused him of abusive behavior, calling the claims politically motivated.
The accumulation of scandals has fractured Democratic support. Some in the party have openly questioned whether Platner should continue, with prominent Democrats criticizing their own side for standing behind a candidate carrying this much baggage.
Katz arrived on the scene as a rising star in progressive campaign circles. His biggest credential: he was credited as a major factor in Mamdani's upset victory in the New York City mayoral race against Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa. That win made Katz's name in Democratic operative circles.
But managing a Maine Senate race against a well-liked Republican incumbent is a different assignment than running a progressive insurgency in New York City. And Katz's approach has drawn sharp criticism beyond the resurfaced writings.
Savage accused Katz of attempting to intimidate Genevieve McDonald, an allegation that, if accurate, suggests a strategist more comfortable with hardball tactics than with reading the room in a state like Maine.
"Morris Katz thinking that he was going to call up and intimidate Genevieve McDonald shows how bad his judgement is, he was never going to succeed at that and the fact he didn't have the instincts to know better is just the first red flag of many for him."
An anonymous Republican strategist offered an even blunter assessment of the entire operation. The strategist described Katz as "unbelievably strange" and questioned the arrogance of an out-of-state progressive operative trying to drag a deeply flawed candidate across the finish line in a state that values Susan Collins's seniority and constituent service.
"The arrogance that it takes to come in and say, 'I'm an out-of-state progressive socialist here to make some money off a flawed candidate bleeding in the polls,' and then try to take that away from the people who really need it, you're going to take away what Susan Collins has done and will be able to do for these people."
Fox News Digital reached out to Katz, the Platner campaign, Fight Agency, Mamdani's team, and McDonald for comment. No responses were reported.
The mockery has moved beyond press releases. National Republican Senatorial Committee staffers showed up outside Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C., wearing towels, an apparent reference to Platner's sexting controversies. The stunt was juvenile, but the underlying message was serious: Republicans believe Platner is a gift that keeps giving.
The broader question for Democrats is whether they can find a viable alternative before the primary. At least one Pennsylvania Democrat has already declared Platner disqualified, and others in the party have publicly called the tattoo controversy alone a disqualifying mark.
Yet the candidate remains in the race. And the strategist Democrats brought in to stabilize the situation now has his own writings circulating among opposition researchers and reporters, writings that, at a minimum, raise questions about whether the people running this campaign understand the voters they are trying to win over.
Step back from any single controversy and the picture is worse than the sum of its parts. A candidate with a history of explicit messages on an app known for safety concerns. A tattoo dispute that hinges on competing claims about what the candidate knew and when. Abuse allegations he calls politically motivated. Old posts he attributes to a dark chapter. And now an adviser whose own published words involve nude photos and anatomical references in a children's guide.
Each item, taken alone, might be survivable. Together, they form a pattern that Maine voters, who tend to prize decency and plain dealing, are unlikely to overlook. The intra-party fights over whether to cut Platner loose only amplify the impression of a campaign in free fall.
Collins, meanwhile, doesn't have to do much. She can let the opposition consume itself. Every new revelation about Platner or his team is another day Democrats aren't talking about policy, aren't building a coalition, and aren't making a case to the people of Maine.
When your damage-control strategist needs his own damage control, the campaign isn't struggling. It's already over, the candidate just hasn't admitted it yet.
