Scoop: Platner heads to D.C. for senator meetings and fundraisers
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Maine Democratic Senate primary frontrunner Graham Platner is scheduled to meet with Democratic senators in Washington on Tuesday afternoon, according to two people familiar with the plans.
Why it matters: The long-planned meeting will give senators an opportunity to ask Platner directly about allegations that he sent sexually explicit text messages to as many as a dozen women in 2023, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.
- Over the weekend, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) indicated he had questions about the allegations.
- "Yes, I have concerns," Booker said on ABC News. "That guy has questions to answer. And that's what campaigns are for."
Zoom out: Democrats are increasingly concerned about Platner's viability in a must-win Senate race and whether the revelations about the text messages represent the campaign's final embarrassment — or merely its latest.
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) backed Gov. Janet Mills in the race, but she suspended her campaign last month.
- Platner is also scheduled to attend a couple of fundraisers in DC, including one hosted by Ron Klain, a former chief of staff to former President Biden.
State of play: Platner has disputed aspects of the reporting, but his campaign has not denied its central claim — that he sent explicit text messages to other women after marrying in late 2023.
- "Graham isn't saying the texts to other women at the start of the marriage are not real. They are," a campaign official told media outlets. "He's frustrated by the sensationalization of several private facts relayed by a former confidante to journalists."
- "Amy and I went through something hard — because of me. We did the work, and I'm grateful for her every hour of every day," Platner said in a statement Sunday.
- "Being married is hard," his wife, Amy Gertner, said. "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."
