‘Maine had my back’: Graham Platner hits the campaign trail amid latest turmoil

BAR HARBOR, Maine — As he returned to the campaign trail on Friday, Graham Platner took a moment to indirectly address new allegations of “toxic” and “unsettling” behavior three women from his past relationships leveled against him.

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At the same time, hundreds of supporters signaled to Platner that they were still with him, despite a torrent of negative attention. They gave him several standing ovations and at one point chanted the name of his wife, Amy Gertner, when he singled her out for support.

In his remarks, the Democratic Senate candidate spoke of Maine as a state that has given him personal strength to build himself back from the brink.

“Since the beginning, Maine, you had my back. When hurtful things I said on the Internet a decade ago came out into the public as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness of recovery and accountability and growth — Maine had my back,” he said to cheers.

Platner then more specifically referenced the New York Times article on Thursday that detailed the allegations from his former girlfriends, saying that as “every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back.”

While some of the women described positive experiences with Platner, three did not. One woman, Lyndsey Fifield, said that when she dated Platner between roughly 2013 and 2015, he once “twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn’t get out, telling her to remain there until she was ‘calm.’”

Fifield has also worked for conservative groups and campaigns, which Platner seemed to reference when he said some of the allegations were “politically motivated” and were “false.” The former military veteran spoke of a journey he’s had overcoming PTSD after his military tours.

“The state of Maine raised me and the state of Maine saved me,” Platner said. “To all of you out there, Maine, I will always have your back.”

At one point, Platner asked his wife to stand. The crowd chanted “Amy! Amy” as it gave her a standing ovation.

Gertner took center stage last week after the Wall Street Journal first reported that Platner had been sending sexually explicit text messages to several women while they were married. The story came to light after a former campaign staffer went public that Gertner herself had disclosed the sexting to the campaign last year as a potential vulnerability.

Gertner last week defended her husband and talked about how difficult marriage was but that they had grown stronger together afterward.

Platner did not address reporters after the event but had sat for local interviews, including with Maine’s public radio, where he denied he had ever been physically threatening .

In an interview with MS NOW on Thursday, Platner disputed some of the allegations in The New York Times piece, including that he had been physically abusive.

“Anything alleging physicality, anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was, these are the statements of someone who’s politically motivated,” he said.

Platner is attempting to move beyond headlines of his personal life and refocus the messaging on the need for change in Maine. On Friday, his campaign announced he had raised $200,000 since The New York Times piece ran and called it the best single day of fundraising since his primary opponent, Gov. Janet Mills, dropped from the race. The primary election is on Tuesday.

As he spoke to Mainers, he tried to refocus the conversation back onto the general election opponent, Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Collins has long managed to win reelection by winning cross over vote and independents by casting herself as a moderate.

“We see through the charade, and we see through it because of what she does. She voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh, who, before he was busy dismantling the Voting Rights Act and taking voting rights away from black southerners, he was busy getting down to the work he went there for which was dismantling a woman’s right to choose, and she told us, she told us that that was settled law,” Platner said. “She looked him in the eyes, and he told her that he would never do such a thing. Well, either she lied to us or she’s a fool. Either way, you shouldn’t be a United States senator from the state of Maine.”

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At least half a dozen supporters who showed up to Platner’s event on Friday said that they stood behind him regardless of the latest round of allegations.

Janice Low said she wanted to hear from Platner personally tonight after his remarks. Her decision: “I’m definitely going to vote for him.”

She said what was “criminal” was the war in Iran, charging that President Donald Trump had never received congressional approval for the military operation and she wanted to finally oust Collins, who voted with Trump most of the time.

Galen Low, her husband, added that he believed Platner rose above the allegations against him.

“I’ve grown past feeling that people can’t make mistakes and are doomed to things that they’ve done,” Galen Low said. “I didn’t like hearing some of the things I’ve heard, but then I recognize that we’re people, and as people, sometimes we do things we’re not proud of. But that doesn’t mean we can’t admit it and move on.

State Rep. Gary Friedmann, who also attended Friday night, called Platner’s speech “brilliant.”

“Mainers are pretty down to earth, and we’ve all made a lot of mistakes in our lives, we’ve all done things that we regret,” he said. “When it comes down to who we’re going to cast our ballot for in November, it’s going to be the candidate that’s really standing up for the people, and we come to realize that that’s not what Susan Collins does.”