Graham Platner’s extramarital sexting further complicates Democratic hopes of winning back Senate

By Piper Hudspeth Blackburn, CNN

(CNN) — Democrats already facing a difficult path to recapture control of the US Senate are grappling with the latest revelations about Graham Platner, the presumptive Democratic nominee set to face Sen. Susan Collins in a must-win race for the party.

Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey said Sunday that he has “concerns” about Platner. “That guy has questions to answer, and that’s what campaigns are for,” he said on ABC’s “This Week.”

Platner’s wife said in a statement Saturday that she was “deeply hurt” after details of her husband’s messages to other women became public, accusing a former campaign official and confidante of betraying her trust. The statement from Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, came after both The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported that shortly after Platner announced his Senate campaign last year, Gertner flagged to campaign staff sexual text messages her husband had with other women.

Platner, a Marine Corps veteran with no prior political experience, has surged ahead of the June 9 primary, drawing large crowds at his rallies and garnering endorsements from Democrats like Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ruben Gallego. That’s even as his campaign has been hit by revelations from his past, including a since-covered tattoo recognized as a Nazi symbol and comments he posted online denigrating police and White people.

Platner became the Democrats’ presumptive nominee after Maine Gov. Janet Mills dropped out in late April, just weeks before the June 9 primary. Mills, who was recruited to run by national Democratic leaders, will remain on the primary ballot.

Democratic Sen. Andy Kim of New Jersey, in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” wouldn’t say whether he is concerned about Platner but committed to working with “whoever the people of Maine elect.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Chris Murphy offered a more optimistic tone, telling CBS’ “Face the Nation” that there would be a glaring difference to voters between Platner and Collins.

“He certainly admitted that he has made mistakes, but I think this is going to be a pretty clear contrast in Maine between somebody who has spent his life protecting us versus somebody who seems to be protecting Donald Trump’s corruption,” the Connecticut Democrat said.

While Platner’s campaign has been marked by revelations over his past behavior, those earlier developments hadn’t appeared to cut into his support: He led Collins by 9 points in a University of New Hampshire poll released last week.

It’s still unclear how the news of his extramarital sexting will affect his appeal. Genevieve McDonald, the former political director for Platner’s campaign, confirmed to CNN on Saturday that Platner’s wife disclosed to her last year that Platner had been sexting multiple women and that the campaign evaluated the matter as a potential political liability.

CNN has not independently confirmed the existence of the text messages. CNN did verify that an account on the messaging app Kik appears to belong to Platner. The account, under the username “phustle0331,” features a profile photo showing Platner shirtless in a bathroom with a towel on his waist and uses a handle similar to ones on his since-deleted Reddit account and a now-deleted Instagram account.

Platner faced backlash last year when it was revealed that he had a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol on his chest. He said he got the tattoo when he was in his 20s while in the military and did not realize its significance until recently. He has since covered the tattoo.

CNN and other outlets have also reported on other statements Platner made before he began his run. He once called himself a “communist” and dismissed police as “bastards.” He disavowed those comments during a previous interview with CNN.

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CNN’s Michael Williams and Andrew Kaczynski contributed to this report.