In what is quickly becoming a cautionary tale of unchecked digital footprints and hasty political ascents, Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is facing the kind of campaign turbulence that most candidates hope to avoid — and it’s only October of 2025.
Platner’s newly appointed campaign manager, Kevin Brown, stepped down just days after taking the position, citing a deeply personal and valid reason: impending fatherhood. “Graham deserves someone who is 100% in on his race,” Brown told Axios, adding that he and his family want to “lean into this new experience.” Fair enough. But the real story here isn’t about a campaign manager’s sudden exit — it’s about the growing stack of controversies surrounding the candidate himself.
There are so many people on our campaign fighting for a better world for their children and grandchildren, for a world that they may never see. pic.twitter.com/oDQa5acPW8
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) October 26, 2025
Platner, an oyster farmer and self-described working-class progressive, has been running a long-shot challenge in the Democratic primary to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins in 2026. On paper, it’s an underdog story tailor-made for viral campaign ads — a veteran, a farmer, a man of the people. But in practice, Platner’s campaign has been more damage control than forward momentum.
His former political director, Genevieve McDonald, resigned in mid-October after discovering past statements from Platner she said she could not support. Among them: inflammatory and now-deleted social media posts calling rural white Americans “actually stupid and racist,” declaring “all” police are bastards, and openly identifying as a “communist.” CNN’s K-FILE also uncovered a post in which Platner said, “I used to love America… These days I’m pretty disgusted by it all,” citing his disillusionment after serving in America’s “imperial wars.”
Platner, for his part, chalked it up to youthful recklessness online. “That was very much me f—ing around the internet,” he told CNN, asking voters not to judge him by the worst — or best — of his past internet behavior. That plea, however, grows more complicated with the revelation that Platner once had a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol — something he said he got while serving overseas and has since covered up.
Years ago I got a skull and crossbones tattoo with my buddies in the Marine Corps.
I was appalled to learn it closely resembled a Nazi symbol. I altered it yesterday, into something that isn’t deeply offensive to my core beliefs.
I am very sorry to all of you who had to… pic.twitter.com/RQSiRsrTiC
— Graham Platner for Senate (@grahamformaine) October 22, 2025
And then there’s the image he’s crafted as a grassroots working-class candidate — one that’s at odds with records showing he attended an elite out-of-state boarding school, and that his father has donated tens of thousands of dollars to major Democratic campaigns and causes.
Even with all this, Platner has secured an endorsement from none other than Senator Bernie Sanders, a heavyweight in progressive politics. That support may help buffer some of the turbulence, but it doesn’t erase the questions piling up around Platner’s judgment, background, and ability to unite a fractured Democratic base in a state like Maine.
He’s running against Governor Janet Mills in the Democratic primary, and if he somehow emerges victorious, he’ll face off against Republican incumbent Susan Collins in 2026. But if the early days of his campaign are any indication, Platner’s toughest opponent may not be the GOP — it may be his own past.
