BYRON YORK: The Democrats make a Senate mess in Maine

Can Graham Platner, the Democratic Senate campaigner successful Maine, past his sexting scandal? The archetypal happening to cognize is however small we cognize astir it.

We cognize from a Wall Street Journal relationship that Platner’s wife, Amy Gertner, who joined Platner successful November 2023 and who successful the outpouring of 2025 discovered the intersexual texts helium sent to “several” women, told his run astir the texts not agelong aft helium announced his candidacy successful August 2025. So this is not immoderate long-ago matter.

Beyond that, we don’t cognize much. We bash not cognize however galore women were involved. We bash not cognize what Platner said successful the texts; not a azygous substance has been quoted anyplace successful media accounts. And we bash not cognize what the recipients of the texts person to accidental astir it. What was their absorption to receiving sexually explicit messages from the precocious joined Platner?

We bash cognize that backmost successful January, successful the midst of scandals implicit Platner’s Nazi tattoo and disfigured Reddit postings, CNN’s Manu Raju asked Platner whether determination were “other skeletons” successful his closet that could go problems successful the future. “No,” said Platner. “My beingness is not precise complicated. And there’s not thing other coming.” We present cognize that wasn’t true.

We besides cognize that Maine’s Democratic superior is Tuesday. There are a fewer different candidates successful the race, arsenic good arsenic Maine Gov. Janet Mills, who was a campaigner until she suspended her run connected April 30 owed to debased polls and mediocre fundraising.

In the astir caller canvass of the superior race, from the University of New Hampshire, Platner led with 76 percent, followed by Mills astatine 10 percent. (Due to her precocious determination to suspend her campaign, Mills’ sanction volition inactive beryllium connected the ballot.) Little-known candidates and undecided voters marque up the remainder of the total.

So Platner is truly the lone prime Maine Democrats person astatine the moment. One happening that the caller canvass showed was that, astatine slightest arsenic acold arsenic Democrats are concerned, Platner had afloat flooded the Nazi tattoo and Reddit problems. They had been each implicit the press. Democrats knew astir them, and they were OK with Platner.

Polls besides showed Platner starring Sen. Susan Collins, his five-term Republican opponent. In the RealClearPolitics mean of polls, 5 surveys of the race, from aboriginal March to precocious May, each showed Platner starring Collins by betwixt 7 and 9 points.

Now, with the sexting scandal, immoderate Democrats mightiness instrumentality comfortableness successful Platner’s lead. If helium could flooded the Nazi tattoo thing, positive each those violative net messages, past possibly helium tin get by the sexting problem, too.

The occupation with that is that the sexting ungraded has conscionable broken. People don’t truly cognize overmuch astir it. There volition person to beryllium much quality reporting. Then determination volition beryllium connection of mouth. And past we volition spot what effect, if any, the ungraded has connected the polls. At the moment, though, we are seeing polls based connected impressions made weeks oregon months ago.

It seems tenable to expect that the sexting matter, particularly if immoderate oregon each of the women were unwilling recipients of Platner’s sexually oriented texts, volition wounded him successful the polls. Certainly, Democratic politicos successful Maine are expecting trouble. “Up until now, the things that person travel out, astir Mainers person been beauteous forgiving,” Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha told Politico aft the sexting ungraded broke. “The happening that bothers maine astir Graham is each week it seems similar it’s thing else.”

And that leads to the last interest — that if the Nazi tattoo wasn’t the extremity of it, and if the Reddit posts weren’t the extremity of it, wherefore should anyone deliberation the sexting volition beryllium the extremity of embarrassing revelations astir Graham Platner? It’s not an exaggeration to accidental that astir everyone expects determination volition beryllium thing else.

“He’s going to lose,” an anonymous Maine Democratic strategist told Politico. And if that happens, it mightiness impact different Democrats successful Maine and possibly astir the country. “Is helium going to beryllium an albatross to tally with?” the strategist asked. “Absolutely.”

So present immoderate Democrats are profoundly disquieted they volition suffer their accidental to prime up a Senate spot successful Maine, and, connected apical of that, they could endure setbacks successful different races successful Maine and elsewhere — each due to the fact that the party’s voters mislaid their heads for a portion and picked a loser of a candidate. It’s happened successful the past successful different Senate races successful different states. And it ne'er ends well.

Byron York is main governmental analogous for The Washington Examiner. Contact astatine byork@washingtonexaminer.com.