Platner Strategist Warned Ex-Aide She'd Be Branded a Liar Before Story Ran

A strategist working for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner told a former campaign aide that going public with reporters could lead the campaign to brand her a liar and a saboteur, based on a text message the aide shared with the Bangor Daily News.

The strategist, Morris Katz, relayed that warning through an intermediary on May 29, 2026. Its recipient, Genevieve McDonald, is a former state representative who departed Platner's campaign in the fall of 2025. McDonald later gave interviews to The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, both of which ran stories on May 30, 2026, detailing sexually explicit messages Platner had exchanged with several women, messages his wife had flagged to campaign staff in the summer of 2025.

McDonald was, at that point, working on the campaign of Jordan Wood, a Democrat seeking Maine's 2nd Congressional District seat. She said she stepped away from that role on May 30, 2026, so the controversy surrounding Platner would not spill onto Wood.

Katz pushed back publicly on the social platform X, arguing that critics were putting "vengeance over decency." Platner's campaign has acknowledged the messages exist. The episode surfaced roughly 10 days before Maine's June 9 Democratic primary, where Platner remains favored to advance and face Sen. Susan Collins.

This story was first reported by Bangor Daily News.