After Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out of the Democrat U.S. Senate primary in April, Graham Platner emerged as his party’s presumptive nominee.
Platner’s campaign to unseat incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins has thus far weathered a Nazi tattoo scandal (he feigned ignorance and covered it up) and past remarks denigrating the actions of a Purple Heart recipient (he has declined to apologize, citing his own tenure in the U.S. Marine Corps), but another controversy as arisen ahead of the June 9 primary.
The ‘Sexting’ Scandal
As reported on Monday’s AM Update, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both dropped stories over the weekend that Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, told campaign officials last year that she discovered sexually explicit text messages between her husband and multiple women. Platner and Gertner wed in November of 2023, and his Senate campaign officially launched less than two years later on August 19, 2025.
According to The New York Times, Gertner contacted Genevieve McDonald, then political director of Platner’s campaign, just days before her husband was set to appear at a Labor Day rally with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) last year, raising concerns that the exchanges could become a political liability.
McDonald told The Times that Gertner described the messages as “sexting,” adding that Platner had been communicating with as many as a dozen women. According to the outlet, a current campaign official confirmed the conversations but clarified that Platner had only messaged up to six women and stopped before the campaign actually launched, suggesting they believe the timing makes a difference.
Last October, McDonald resigned as political director of the campaign amid mounting controversies over Platner’s dicey social media history, as well as his chest tattoo widely regarded as a Nazi symbol. Then, as reporters at The Wall Street Journal and New York Times were preparing stories on the sexting allegations, the Bangor Daily News reported one of Platner’s top advisors, Morris Katz, sent a warning to McDonald through an intermediary on Friday.
The message reportedly threatened that McDonald would be publicly accused of lying, betraying the couple’s trust, and of trying to sabotage the campaign if she dared to speak to reporters. But the move appeared to have backfired because McDonald subsequently agreed to go on the record with The New York Times.
“The U.S. Senate is not a training ground for redemption,” she told the paper. “It is a place for proven leaders with moral clarity and integrity.”
Kik Claims
The Wall Street Journal report, meanwhile, surfaced another issue involving Platner’s extensive online footprint – an account on Kik, a private messaging app with a long history of child safety concerns. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation refers to Kik as “a predator’s paradise,” citing the app’s anonymous messaging features and its history of allowing underage users to communicate with adults.
The Journal said it verified an account tied to Platner using the handle “phustle0331,” which is similar to usernames he has used on other social media platforms. The Daily Wire reported the account was created in 2016 when Platner was 32 years old.
The profile features a shirtless mirror selfie of a man wearing only a towel. While his face is out of frame, the very visible tattoos match Platner’s ink. His campaign told WSJ he deleted the app from his phone years ago but never deactivated the account, which is why it appears active.
Platner’s Response
Gertner, who is reportedly on her husband’s campaign payroll, recorded a video response to the controversies posted Saturday night to Platner’s official account on X.
“It makes me really angry, disappointed, and I find it really shameful that there’s a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip instead of talking about real issues that Graham is running on, like healthcare and education and childcare,” she said, in part. “I just really wanted to make sure that everyone knows that Graham and I have a great marriage. Being married is hard. Being newly married is hard. Being newly married and going through infertility is hard. Being newly married, going through infertility, and a Senate campaign is hard.”
“Our marriage counselor helps, my personal counselor helps, Graham’s personal counselor helps, and we work on our mental health every day,” Gertner added.
For his part, Platner finally addressed the allegations in a Q&A with reporters on Sunday. He denied McDonald’s story – sort of – with Gertner by his side.
PLATNER: This is the amazing part. The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times ran stories without any evidence besides the gossip from a former staffer. I’m sorry, that’s frankly journalistic malpractice. We pushed back on it, they won it, they did it anyways.
REPORTER 1: So, are you confirming that the messages did not exist?
PLATNER: What’s that?
REPORTER 1: The messages, they did not–
PLATNER: I’m confirming that what Genevieve McDonald said in The New York Times is not true.
REPORTER 2: So, you never met with her about uncomfortable, for lack of a better word, sexting messages as the campaign was going?
The State of the Race
Platner is the presumptive Democratic nominee after establishment-favorite Mills dropped out of the race in late April citing a lack of funds. His remaining Democratic challengers are polling in the low single digits ahead of next Tuesday’s primary, which means he is expected to face Sen. Collins in November. Collins has represented the Pine Tree State in Washington, D.C., for nearly 30 years.
Democrats see the race as one of their best chances to pick up a Senate seat in the midterms, and the RealClearPolitics polling average currently shows Platner leading Collins by 7.8 points.
Political Analysis
But it is unclear how this new round of opposition research will impact the already scandal-scarred campaign. On Monday’s show, Megyn was joined by Emily Jashinsky, host of MK Media’s After Party, to discuss the “sexting” scandal and what it could mean for the competitive race.
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Jashinsky by tuning in to episode 1,329 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.