Controversy Surrounding Maine Senate Candidate Graham Platner
WASHINGTON — A key strategist for Mayor Mamdani is under scrutiny for allegedly pressuring a former political director from Graham Platner’s Senate campaign to deny involvement in a sexting scandal, reportedly followed by threats.
Morris Katz, a 27-year-old strategist who has had a significant role in Mamdani’s campaign, is said to have reached out to Genevieve McDonald, a former staffer for Platner, urging her to publicly dispute claims regarding the scandal.
“I want to clarify our current situation,” Katz communicated to McDonald through a third party, as reported. “If this story continues as it stands, we will inform them directly, by name, that Genevieve breached Amy and Graham’s personal trust and shared blatant falsehoods to sabotage their campaign.”
Katz, owner of Fight Agency, is connected to Platner, who is effectively the Democratic candidate in Maine’s Senate race.
The warning from Katz was relayed through an adviser to Jordan Wood, a candidate for Congress in Maine, according to documents acquired by Bangor Daily News.
McDonald had been involved in Wood’s campaign until recently.
Last fall, she was among three officials who resigned from Platner’s team as troubling details about his past began to surface.
Katz was particularly irritated after an article in the Wall Street Journal emerged, alleging that Platner had engaged in sexting with up to 12 women since his marriage in 2023.
Following the article’s publication, Katz urged McDonald to issue a denial to the Wall Street Journal and insisted it be recorded and passed to his campaign.
However, McDonald decided to take a different route and talked to the New York Times, which confirmed the sensational allegations shortly after the Wall Street Journal’s report.
The newspaper indicated that while Platner’s camp claimed he had sexted only six women, some reports suggested the number could be much higher.
McDonald recounted how Platner’s wife confided in her that while they were looking into potential opposition research for the campaign, they uncovered explicit messages sent by Platner to various women.
Katz expressed his displeasure towards McDonald on social media, stating, “What happened in Graham and Amy’s marriage before he became a presidential candidate is nobody’s business. There should be no place in our politics for untrustworthy individuals who invade privacy, betray trust, and favor revenge over common sense.”
The newspaper attempted to get comments from Katz regarding the situation.
Platner, aged 41, avoided media interaction during an election event over the weekend. His wife’s main response to the situation came in a five-minute video where she admonished the media and McDonald without directly naming them.
Platner has encountered numerous controversies, including remarks on Reddit minimizing sexual assault and defending soldiers involved in disrespectful actions towards the Taliban. He has also made questionable comments on war, suggesting some aspects can be enjoyable, and labeled white Americans as “actually” racist and ignorant.
Most notably, it was revealed he has a tattoo resembling the Totenkopf, a symbol associated with the Nazi SS. Platner claims to have gotten the tattoo while intoxicated in Croatia in 2007 and denied knowing about its Nazi connections prior to that.
He has since attempted to alter the tattoo into what he describes as a “Celtic knot surrounding a dog.”
Despite these controversies, Platner reportedly holds a 7.8 percentage point lead over incumbent Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), according to the latest aggregation from RealClearPolitics. Collins has historically outperformed polling predictions in her past races, particularly during her reelection in 2020.
