Couple Discovered Marital Issues Early On, Addressed Them in Counseling

U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner, alerted his Maine campaign about sexually explicit texts he had sent to several women days before he announced his candidacy. Gertner found the messages in spring 2025, early into the marriage, and disclosed them last August to a campaign aide conducting opposition research.

A campaign official told The Wall Street Journal that the aide concluded the texts were a private matter being addressed by the couple in marriage counseling. Gertner said she and her husband went to counseling. “We went to counseling.

We were honest with each other in ways that weren’t easy,” she said in a statement provided by the campaign. “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. ” She added: “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. ” Platner previously faced backlash over posts from a now-deleted Reddit account. ” Platner has apologized for the remarks, attributing them to mental health struggles, isolation and the violent culture he encountered after combat service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills suspended her campaign ahead of the June 9 Democratic primary after using the Reddit posts in attack ads. Platner’s remaining primary opponent is David Costello, who ran two years ago against five-term Republican Sen.