Graham Platner Sent Sexually Explicit Texts to Multiple Women Outside Marriage, Campaign Was Warned of Political Risk

U.S. Senate in Maine, issued a statement Sunday night addressing reports that he sent sexually explicit text messages to multiple women outside his marriage. Platner said he and his wife Amy Gertner had worked through the issue.

"Amy and I went through something hard -- because of me," he stated. " He added that people don’t care about gossip or headlines, they care that you’re fighting for their hospitals, their paycheck, their kids. Amy Gertner released a video statement Saturday evening that the campaign posted on social media.

She also stated that Platner has been in therapy for years. "No marriage is perfect and I don't want a perfect marriage," Gertner said in the video. " In a separate prepared statement, she said she shared personal information about her marriage with someone she considered a friend and felt betrayed by the disclosure.

"I trusted this person with the most private chapter of our lives -- the early days of our marriage before any campaign was on our mind -- and I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy," Gertner stated. The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times reported that Gertner alerted Platner’s campaign in 2025 after he announced his Senate run about sexually explicit text messages her husband had exchanged with multiple women.

The Wall Street Journal reported that months later Gertner disclosed the texts to a campaign aide and that aides determined the matter was private and being handled in marriage counseling.

Former Platner campaign political director Genevieve McDonald told The New York Times that Gertner feared the behavior could become a political liability and that Platner had exchanged sexual messages with as many as a dozen women. Morris Katz, a Platner adviser, posted on social media Saturday that “It’s no one’s f------ business what happened in Graham & Amy’s marriage before he was ever a candidate for office.

” Platner released a new campaign advertisement Monday morning and is continuing to campaign ahead of the June 9 primary.

University of New Hampshire polling released days before the reports showed Platner leading Republican Sen. Susan Collins 51% to 42% among likely voters and found that nearly three-quarters of likely Democratic primary voters had a positive impression of him. Maine Gov.

Janet Mills previously suspended her Democratic primary campaign but remains on the June 9 ballot along with Democrat David Costello. A photo of Platner and Gertner was taken after an event at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6859 on May 17, 2026, in Portland, Maine. S.

Senator Bernie Sanders in Portland on May 25, 2026.