Maine Republicans Spotlight Past Writings of Platner Adviser Morris Katz Amid Sexting and Tattoo Scrutiny

Maine Republicans have drawn attention to writings by Democratic strategist Morris Katz that include a 2019 Medium post stating he had both sent and received nudes and a 2020 puberty guide for boys containing a footnote on page 17 in which Katz said he initially considered using images of his own penis to illustrate puberty before the publisher said it was inappropriate.

Katz, a New York City Democratic Party campaign strategist credited with a major role in New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's 2025 electoral upset, became involved in Maine after Graham Platner faced scrutiny over sexually explicit messages he exchanged with multiple women early in his marriage on the Kik app.

Platner's wife, Amy Gertner, disclosed the messages to campaign officials during an internal vetting process.

The Platner campaign has acknowledged the messages existed and stated the matter was addressed privately between Platner and his wife. Platner maintained an active Kik profile that featured a shirtless mirror selfie of him with a towel around his waist. Republican staffers later appeared outside the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee wearing towels in apparent reference to the profile.

Katz was accused of attempting to contain fallout from the Kik messages, prompting Maine Republicans to examine his earlier writings. Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine Republican Party, told Fox News Digital that the combination of Platner and Katz is like a sort of weird horror story.

Savage said Morris Katz thinking that he was going to call up and intimidate Genevieve McDonald shows how bad his judgement is.

He added that the combination of Morris Katz and Graham Platner is this weird horror story where neither one of them really understands the guardrails on decency. An anonymous Republican strategist from rural Maine told Fox News Digital that the Katz controversy shows national progressive operatives are using Maine as a testing ground for an outsider-backed campaign.

The strategist said this guy, who is unbelievably strange, comes in from out of state and tries to get this horribly flawed guy, like limping, pleading across the finish line.

Platner has faced additional scrutiny over a tattoo that critics identified as a Nazi-linked symbol, which he later covered up. Platner said he was unaware of the symbol's association with Nazis when he got the tattoo years ago. Genevieve McDonald has contested that Platner has been aware of the tattoo symbol's meaning for some time.

Old Reddit posts by Platner contained inflammatory comments about rape, race, political violence, police, rural Americans and military veterans. Platner said his views have changed and that some of his past comments reflected a darker period in his life after military service. A former girlfriend accused Platner of abusive behavior.

Platner denied the allegations, calling the claims politically motivated. Fox News Digital reached out to Morris Katz, the Platner campaign, Fight Agency, Mamdani's team and Genevieve McDonald for comment.