Why I'm annoyed I have to hear about Platner sexting women early in his marriage

Another edition of Political Men Behaving Badly

You’d probably heard the news that, soon after Graham Platner started his Senate campaign, his wife Amy told a campaign aide her husband had sexted a bunch of women. Reports vary between six or “as many as a dozen.”

All of took place in a compressed timeline, as they got married in November 2023 and the revelations took place less than two years later, around Labor Day 2025.

I have to say, I’m annoyed.

Yeah, I get that sex scandals are a dime a dozen among politicians. I tend not to care if what happened was consensual. I’ve voted for adulterers even though that behavior is not remotely ok when it comes to my own ethics and marriage. And there isn’t a single candidate, elected official or human being who is altogether perfect.

But this still doesn’t sit right for me. Why?

One, it contradicts Graham Platner’s soothing statements.

After the reports about his Reddit posts and tattoo, Graham Platner said that was the end of embarrassing news, including to questioners at town halls.

There was also this recent exchange with a NY Times reporter:

Lulu Garcia-Navarro: Is there something new you want to get ahead of?

Graham Platner: No. I have lived my life. I’ve been there for the whole thing. I know what I’ve been through. I know what my behavior has been.

But, both with voters and this journalist, Platner knew that wasn’t true. So there’s a trust issue there.

Second, not even this story is finished.

Just based on observing how sex scandals roll out, it’s quite likely there is more we will learn regarding these sexts.

For example, we could see the words Platner shared and any images associated with them, some of which might have, as the phrase goes, adult content.

We could hear from the women who were sexting with Graham Platner. They might get interviewed. We might hear how he was representing his relationship status. Etc.

All of this could be spun into additional news because the press tends to be like a dog with a bone with certain sorts of stories.

Third, we deserve better than this bullshit.

I completely agree with Platner’s wife Amy Gertner that she and her husband have their own personal issues to deal with AND that there are more important issues for Maine voters to be thinking about.

I certainly also wish her well and think it’s awful she now has to revisit her husband’s private wrongdoing to her in public.

But because Graham Platner was not properly vetted and not true to his wife and not truly honest with voters and reporters, we are all going to have to go through an election cycle that should be about Susan Collins’ terrible record and a better path forward for people with this in the background.

It makes me kind of upset that’s the case, that we are all waiting for more shoes to drop, because there’s been a breach of trust on many levels.

The sexting isn’t like long-ago anonymous social media posts. It involves recent one-to-one communications of a sexual nature.

To be sure, this is not an Access Hollywood level scandal.

We have zero reason to think that anything that happened with Graham Platner and his sexting partners was anything but consensual. There’s no suggestion otherwise. And anyone who gave Trump a pass on all his sexual crimes, abuse and misconduct has no moral standing to criticize this.

Does this matter politically?

We certainly could find that this news has no impact on polling for the general election (even if it cut Platner’s margins in the primary should additional voters pick write-in candidate Andrea LaFlamme or the other Democrats on the ballot, David Costello and Janet Mills. And it might not even do that.)

Platner’s pushed ahead in the face of other revelations and they haven’t harmed him politically.

No or limited political fallout for the big November match-up would be good because there is a great deal of stake.

Which party controls the Senate will determine a lot, not just legislation but also nominations and the ability to hold the Trump administration accountable.

Graham Platner could play an important role in influencing the direction of the Democratic party and the country. He’s energized a lot of voters with his critique, his vision and his raw political talent, and his campaign has organized the heck out of Maine.

Platner has the same strengths and weaknesses he did a week ago. This is just another item to add to the pile, which might have a tipping point.

But it’s shitty we have to deal with this sexting nonsense and wishing it away won’t make it go away. That’s magical thinking and we need to live in a reality-based world.

Nor will attacking the person who leaked this make the news disappear so, though the Platner campaign is big mad at her, they should cool it.

One should assume that anything shared digitally is still out there. The women involved have copies and, who knows, may have given them to others before the sexting news broke. Most likely this would have come out sometime during the campaign anyway.

Well, as they say, politics ain’t beanbag.

Peace out.