With Maine's primary election just days away and voting already underway, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner is addressing whether he should remain in the race following a series of controversies about his past behavior and personal conduct.
Platner, a combat veteran turned oyster farmer, has maintained frontrunner status in the Democratic primary to challenge longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins in what Democrats view as a critical race for Senate control in November. However, recent reporting has raised questions about his candidacy and fitness for office.
The latest scrutiny stems from a New York Times story in which previous romantic partners characterized Platner's behavior as toxic and described him as someone who does not respect women. One former partner, Lyndsey Fifield, who has worked for conservative causes and on Republican campaigns, recounted an incident in which Platner allegedly locked her in a room and told her she would remain there until she was calm.
Platner denied the allegations during an interview with Maine Public on Friday, calling them simply not true. He also disputed the nature of his relationship with Fifield, stating they never dated and characterizing her as someone he had a casual relationship with.
Rather than viewing the negative coverage as damaging, Platner framed it as evidence his campaign poses a threat to the political establishment. "The whole point of these stories is to make sure we're not talking about healthcare, it's to make sure we're not talking about raising taxes on the rich, it's to make sure we're not talking about getting money out of politics," he told Maine Public.
The candidate added that no one from the National Democratic Party has instructed him to withdraw from the race.
The New York Times article represents only the latest in a series of controversies that have emerged since Platner announced his candidacy. When he first entered the race, attention focused on a tattoo featuring a skull and crossbones that resembled a Nazi SS symbol. Platner has repeatedly stated he was unaware of the resemblance and that he was intoxicated with fellow Marines when he received the tattoo in 2007.
Subsequently, old and since-deleted Reddit comments surfaced that contained racist language and statements blaming sexual assault victims. The Wall Street Journal then reported that Platner, who is married, exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women early in his campaign in 2025. His wife, Amy Gertner, has defended both her husband and their marriage.
In a social media post on X the day after the New York Times story published, Fifield wrote about Washington's culture toward victims of abuse and her motivation for coming forward. "I'm so done. This just cannot keep happening. I will not one day send my daughters to go work in a congressional office if this culture is not radically transformed," she stated. "People need to know they can and should speak up when they're abused or when they see abuse—and know there will be no point scoring about what party affiliation they have."
Platner has been forthcoming about his mental health struggles following deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. He has acknowledged living with undiagnosed and untreated PTSD and depression, which he said led to excessive drinking during what he described to Maine Public as the darkest time of his life. Platner stated his mental health improved after he began receiving help from the VA and participating in therapy in early 2017.
The candidate told Maine Public he anticipated scrutiny of his past but did not expect it to reach its current intensity. "When Amy and I decided we were going to do this, we knew that our lives are going to get ripped apart. We knew that people were going to lie," he said.
Platner expressed confidence that voters will look beyond the controversies if he continues engaging directly with Maine residents about their concerns. "I very firmly believe that if I go out and continue to engage with people and continue to talk about the reality that Mainers are living in, the struggles of regular everyday people – that's why we're going to win this thing," he said.
The campaign of Sen. Susan Collins did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Maine Public.
The Democratic primary election in Maine is scheduled for Tuesday, June 9, 2026, with early voting already in progress across the state.
