The campaign for Democratic socialist US Senate candidate Graham Platner was thrown into chaos Sunday after a former top aide allegedly leaked insider information about scandalous texts to a media outlet. The Democrat's former political director Genevieve McDonald spoke out after it was revealed Platner's wife, Amy Gertner, found inappropriate messages he sent to at least a dozen women while the couple was trying to conceive a child through in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Details of the Leak
Gertner, who has been married to Platner since 2023, called reports about the sexts 'really shameful' - despite disclosing the information herself to McDonald, who left Platner's campaign in October, The New York Times reported. McDonald said that The Wall Street Journal called her on Friday and informed her the outlet was moving forward with a story she had spoken to them about off the record. The paper said they independently verified her information through multiple sources.
She then noted that after the Journal sought comment from the Platner campaign, consultant Morris Katz pressured her to retract her remarks, claim the reporting was inaccurate, and provide proof of the call following his instructions. When she refused, Katz allegedly warned that the campaign would publicly accuse her by name of betraying personal trust and spreading falsehoods, prompting her to go on the record with The New York Times.
Political Consultant Involved
Katz is a political consultant who has also worked with top progressive Democrats, including New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani and Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman. McDonald shared additional information about her outing of Platner via a Facebook post, where she also noted that she would 'never allow [herself] to be threatened and intimidated by some punk kid consultant from NYC,' seemingly in reference to Katz.
Wife's Statement
Gertner shared her own side of the story in a video over the weekend. 'I wanted to make a statement today about a couple of news articles that are out there about my marriage to Graham,' the 41-year-old said in a video that the politician shared to his campaign page on X. 'So it makes me really angry, disappointed, and I find it really shameful that there's a group of media outlets and people who are willing to spread gossip, instead of talking about real issues that Graham is running on, like healthcare and education and childcare,' Gertner continued.
She went on to insist that she and her husband have a 'great marriage' and that they have been struggling with infertility. 'Graham and I have a great marriage. Being married is hard. 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. I don't even know if I have the right words to describe what we've been going through,' she added.
Polling Context
Platner, at 51 percent, holds a nine percentage point lead over the incumbent Collins, according to a University of New Hampshire poll released on Wednesday.
