{"id":740,"date":"2026-06-05T04:10:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=740"},"modified":"2026-06-05T04:10:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T04:10:26","slug":"democrats-navigate-a-new-graham-platner-controversy-in-maines-battleground-senate-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=740","title":{"rendered":"Democrats navigate a new Graham Platner controversy in Maine\u2019s battleground Senate race"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the Democratic Party, the road to Maine\u2019s Senate primary is paved in dread. <\/p>

All Graham Platner had to do was glide into Tuesday\u2019s election to clinch the state\u2019s Democratic Senate nomination, since Gov. Janet Mills abruptly suspended her campaign in late April. But with each passing day, the divisions inside the party have grown as some lawmakers and activists say they are increasingly alarmed over the breadth and depth of controversies and scandals facing the military veteran. <\/p>

Read more St. Louis to host 2028 U.S. Olympic marathon trials<\/a><\/p>

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As some Democrats nervously wondered what the next controversy might be, they worried he might be too risky a candidate to face off against the party\u2019s great white whale: longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins. <\/p>

Some were already researching the mechanism to replace Platner should he withdraw from the ticket when the next shoe dropped Thursday afternoon. <\/p>

In a lengthy report, The New York Times interviewed three of Platner\u2019s former girlfriends, who described his behavior as \u201ctoxic\u201d and \u201cunsettling\u201d at times. One woman, Lyndsey Fifield, recounted an argument when they dated \u2014 from roughly 2013 to 2015 \u2014 during which Platner \u201ctwisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn\u2019t get out, telling her to remain there until she was \u2018calm.\u2019\u201d Fifield also claimed that Platner knew the meaning behind a Nazi tattoo he has since covered. <\/p>

NBC News has not confirmed the details in the Times\u2019 report. <\/p>

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Platner responded to the article in a statement denying some of the allegations. His campaign said he has no intention of withdrawing from the race. <\/p>

\u201cThroughout this campaign, I\u2019ve been open about what was a very dark period of my life where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, too often self medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend,\u201d he said. \u201cI take responsibility for all of that, and wish I had been better. Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe, politically motivated. I\u2019m not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I\u2019ve done since, and the movement we are building in Maine.\u201d<\/p>

A Platner campaign official pushed back most pointedly against a narrative from one of the women \u2014 Lyndsey Fifield, a Republican who made some of the most serious allegations in the story \u2014 questioning her motives.<\/p>

\u201cLet\u2019s be very clear: This is a lifelong GOP operative who\u2019s dedicated her career to electing Republicans,\u201d the official said.<\/p>

Fifield is affiliated with Independent Women, a conservative women\u2019s group. She also worked for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, and Nikki Haley\u2019s 2024 Republican presidential campaign. She told the Times she has not been paid by any political entity since then.<\/p>

Fifield did not reply to a request for comment. Jenny Racicot, a Maine Democrat who is the other former girlfriend named in the story with critical remarks about Platner, also did not reply to a request for comment.<\/p>

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In an interview Thursday night on MS NOW, Platner said some allegations in the Times story \u201care simply not true.\u201d <\/p>

\u201cAnything alleging physicality, anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was, these are the statements of someone who\u2019s politically motivated,\u201d he said. He also insisted he hasn\u2019t considered dropping out of the race at any point in the past week. <\/p>

\u201cNo, not once,\u201d Platner said.<\/p>

In Maine, it is possible to replace a candidate after a primary, but the nominee first has to withdraw.<\/p>

Democrats were still digesting the new report Thursday evening, but initial reactions ranged from wishing Platner would step aside to supporters\u2019 digging in their heels. So far, there has been no mass exodus from those who had endorsed him. <\/p>

Platner still intends to hold a rally scheduled for Friday in Bar Harbor, and Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who was set to appear with him, still plans to be there, a person familiar with the plans said.<\/p>

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\u201cThe behavior described in the New York Times story was wrong and toxic,\u201d Khanna said in a statement. \u201cGraham has acknowledged that and sought redemption. The people of Maine deserve a senator who is going to stand up to the billionaire class, against genocide, and for the working class.\u201d<\/p>

Likewise, some Platner backers forged ahead.<\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot harder to dislodge us because we know the man. We\u2019ve met the man,\u201d said Democratic state Rep. Valli Geiger, who described Platner as a generational talent. <\/p>

Like other Platner backers, Geiger dismissed some of Fifield\u2019s allegations.<\/p>

The timing of the allegations, just as voters are casting ballots ahead of Tuesday\u2019s primary, \u201cmakes me support him more because it just feels like dirty politics to me,\u201d said Geiger, who appeared in one of Platner\u2019s campaign ads praising his support for her rape kit legislation. <\/p>

She said she spoke with Platner after news broke over the weekend that he had exchanged explicit text messages with women early in his marriage \u2014 Platner and his wife wed in November 2023 \u2014 but she declined to detail the conversation. <\/p>

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Geiger accused the mainstream media of colluding to derail his campaign. <\/p>

\u201cIs it peeling people off? For sure,\u201d Geiger said, adding, \u201cBut for many people, it\u2019s just making us angrier.\u201d<\/p>

Roiling party anger <\/strong><\/h2>

From Maine to Washington, Democrats expressed frustration over the cascade of controversies emanating from the Platner campaign. They have fueled a number of his long-standing critics who have also objected to his left-leaning populist views. <\/p>

\u201cThere have been a lot of red flags in this race, and they continue to proliferate,\u201d said Matt Bennett of the Democratic think tank Third Way, who had backed Mills. \u201cWe have long been concerned that it could cost us the seat, and we don\u2019t feel any better about it today.\u201d<\/p>

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