Graham Platner
American political candidate (born 1984)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Graham Cunningham Platner (born September 1, 1984) is an American oyster farmer and Marine Corps veteran who is a candidate for the Democratic nomination in the 2026 U.S. Senate election in Maine, seeking to challenge incumbent Republican senator Susan Collins.
September 1, 1984
Graham Platner | |
|---|---|
Platner in 2025 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Graham Cunningham Platner September 1, 1984 Blue Hill, Maine, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Amy Gertner (m. 2023) |
| Relatives | Warren Platner (grandfather) |
| Website | Campaign website |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | United States Marine Corps |
Years of service | 2003–2007 2010–2011[1] |
| Rank | Sergeant[2] |
| Unit | Maryland National Guard |
| Battles/wars | |
Born and raised in coastal Maine, Platner enlisted in the Marine corps after graduating from high school. He served eight years, including three combat tours in Iraq as a Marine and one in Afghanistan with the Maryland Army National Guard. After his military service, he worked as a State Department security contractor in Afghanistan before returning to Maine and entering the oyster farming business. From there, he took over an operation in 2020, and became active in local government before announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Senate in August 2025.
Platner has been characterized as a populist and a progressive who is critical of the Democratic Party establishment. His platform focuses on issues such as housing affordability, universal health care, strengthening labor unions, reducing the political power of billionaires, and ending U.S. involvement in what he calls "pointless" wars. Some of his past statements on Reddit, his alleged misconduct in past and present romantic relationships, and his tattoo resembling a Totenkopf have attracted controversy. Platner has been endorsed by political figures such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
Early life
Platner was born on September 1, 1984, in Blue Hill, Maine.[3] He was raised in Sullivan, a coastal town near Acadia National Park, and in Ellsworth.[4] He is the elder of two sons born to restaurant owner Leslie Harlow and lawyer Bronson Platner.[4][5][6] His grandfather was the modernist architect Warren Platner.[7]
Platner attended the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Connecticut, and John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor, Maine.[8] He earned the "most likely to start a revolution" yearbook superlative as a senior at John Bapst in 2003, appearing in the photo with a sign declaring "Free Kosova, Chechnya, Kashmir, Palestine, Kurdistan, Tibet".[8][9] When he was 18, he was quoted in the Bangor Daily News after protesting President George W. Bush and the Iraq War at an appearance by Bush at Bangor International Airport: "I started yelling, 'Don’t attack Iraq. If our best generals tell us not to go to war, why should we?'"[8]
Career
Military
Platner enlisted in the Marine Corps shortly after graduating from high school in 2003.[1] He attended the Marine Corps School of Infantry, then deployed to Iraq in 2005.[6] He served a total of eight years in the military, including three combat tours in Iraq, in areas including Ramadi and Fallujah.[10] Asked why he served in the Iraq War after protesting it, Platner said, "I thought I could do some good. And I wanted to play soldier. I might have read too much Hemingway."[11]
After four years in the military, Platner enrolled at George Washington University (GWU), funded by the G.I. Bill.[1] Shortly after starting school, he enlisted in the Maryland Army National Guard and served an additional tour of duty in the war in Afghanistan.[12][13] He returned to Washington in 2011, resuming classes at GWU and working as a bartender at the Tune Inn on Capitol Hill.[14][15] From 2011 to 2016 he alternated between living in DC and military deployments, before withdrawing from GWU and returning to Maine in 2016 for treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and other military-related injuries.[13][1][11][16]
In 2018, Platner returned to Kabul, Afghanistan, for about six months as a State Department security contractor with Constellis, where he provided diplomatic security to the US Ambassador to Afghanistan.[17][10][18][19] He returned to Maine the same year, saying he had quickly grown more disillusioned with the military and what he called fraudulent funneling of taxpayer money to private defense companies.[12][1]
Oyster farming
While on leave from Afghanistan in 2018, Platner spent two weeks farming oysters with Jock Crothers, founder of Waukeag Neck Oyster Co., a small Frenchman Bay operation established in 2010 that supplies restaurants in Downeast Maine.[12][20] After resigning as a security contractor and returning to Maine later that year, he began working at the farm full-time.[18] He took over the company in 2020 and now owns and operates it with his wife, Amy, and another business partner.[11][21][16] He says the business does not make much money, but he is able to supplement his income with benefits he earns as a 100% disabled veteran.[11][14] Platner also runs a mooring and dive service.[22][23]
Local government and community involvement
Platner is Sullivan's harbormaster and the chair of Sullivan's planning board.[22][23][24] He has also been involved in grassroots organizing, leading political efforts with the Acadia Action activist group.[25]
U.S. Senate campaign
In July 2025, a coalition of labor and community groups approached Platner to suggest he consider running for Senate.[8] In an interview, he said his first reaction was to reject the idea: "My wife and I, quite honestly, told them to fuck off because that was the weirdest, most random thing."[26] But, he said, when the group returned with a detailed plan, he and his wife reconsidered.[26]
Platner launched his Senate campaign on August 19, 2025, with a video produced by Morris Katz, a senior adviser and admaker for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.[27][21] In the video, Platner highlights his military and working-class credentials, while criticizing his prospective opponent in harsh terms:[28]
I did four infantry tours in the Marine Corps and the Army. I'm not afraid to name an enemy. And the enemy is the oligarchy. It's the billionaires who pay for it, and the politicians who sell us out. And yeah, that means politicians like Susan Collins.
This video received 2.5 million views in its first 24 hours, sparking national media attention.[29][30] The campaign raised $1 million in its first nine days, and reported amassing over 2,700 volunteers.[31]
Senator Bernie Sanders endorsed Platner on August 30, ahead of a Fighting Oligarchy tour appearance in Portland with Platner and Maine gubernatorial candidate Troy Jackson.[32][33] The event had originally been scheduled to be held in an auditorium but had to be moved to a much larger arena due to high public interest.[34][35] Platner has also been endorsed by former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich;[36] Senators Ruben Gallego,[37] Martin Heinrich,[38] and Elizabeth Warren;[39] and Representative Ro Khanna.[40] He has also been endorsed by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, Maine State Nurses Association, and United Auto Workers.[41]
Platner's campaign reported that more than 800 people attended his first town hall meeting in Ellsworth, and that by September 2025[update] over 6,000 volunteers had joined since his August candidacy announcement.[42][43] Platner's volunteer network canvassed against Maine's Question 1, a 2025 ballot measure to restrict absentee voting and require photo identification that was defeated.[43][44]
In late October and early November 2025, several high-level staffers left Platner's campaign during a period that coincided with media reporting on his controversial tattoo and old Reddit posts. On October 17, Platner's political director, Genevieve McDonald, resigned.[45] Platner offered her $15,000 in severance pay if she signed an NDA, but she refused the offer.[46] On October 27, Platner's campaign manager, Kevin Brown, resigned, citing family reasons.[47] On October 31, Platner's campaign finance director, Ronald Holmes, resigned.[48] Also on October 31, Platner filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission indicating that Victoria Perrone was no longer his treasurer and Ben Martelo would take her place.[49] On November 7, Platner hired Ben Chin as his new campaign manager. Chin is the deputy director of the Maine People's Alliance, a progressive advocacy organization.[50]
Politico wrote that Platner "embodies a quarter-century of raw American frustration",[51] and The Washington Post described his candidacy as one of several "rugged guy" campaigns in 2026, along with Dan Osborn's Senate campaign in Nebraska and Nathan Sage's in Iowa.[52]
By March 2026, Platner had a significant polling lead and fundraising advantage over his most prominent opponent, Maine governor Janet Mills.[53] Mills suspended her campaign on April 30, and many outlets began describing Platner as the Democratic Party's presumptive nominee.[54][55][56][57]
Campaign controversies
In October 2025, various news outlets reported on Reddit posts Platner made between 2013 and 2021 in which he called himself a "communist", wrote that all cops are bastards, agreed with a post calling rural white Americans "racist and stupid", and in some posts referenced political violence and armed resistance.[58][59] In a 2013 Reddit discussion about anti-rape underwear, Platner wrote that people worried about assault should "take some responsibility for themselves and not get so fucked up they wind up having sex with someone they don't mean to".[60] He apologized for the posts, saying in an interview with CNN, "That was very much me fucking around the internet... I don't think any of that is indicative of who I am today", and attributing them to his struggles with PTSD.[58][61][62]
During his 2026 Senate campaign, Platner faced scrutiny over a skull-and-bones tattoo on his chest that resembled the Totenkopf symbol used by the Nazi Schutzstaffel (SS) and SS-Totenkopfverbände. In an interview on Pod Save America, Platner said he and other Marines received the tattoo while on leave in Croatia in 2007 and that he had been unaware of its historical association at the time. He later covered the tattoo.[63][64][65] CNN and Jewish Insider reported a former acquaintance's allegation that Platner had previously called the tattoo "my Totenkopf", which Platner denied.[66][67] A former girlfriend's statement reported by The New York Times in June 2026 further corroborated the allegations.[68]
Platner also drew criticism for online activity and media appearances during the campaign. In February 2026, he briefly shared a tweet by antisemitic alt-right commentator Stew Peters before deleting it, saying he had not realized Peters was the original source.[69][70] On a podcast hosted by conspiracy theorist Nate Cornacchia, Platner called himself a longtime fan of the show.[71][72]
In May 2026, The New York Times and other news outlets reported that in 2025 Platner's wife, Amy Gertner, had told Genevieve McDonald, a campaign aide, that Platner had sent multiple women sexual messages early in their marriage. Gertner said the matter had been resolved through counseling.[73][74][75] The Times also reported allegations that Platner engaged in disturbing and physically threatening behavior toward women he had dated.[68][76][77]
Political views
Platner has been characterized as a populist and a progressive.[12][21][28] He has received attention for focusing on economic issues facing working-class Americans, and for being willing to criticize the Democratic Party establishment.[78] His platform focuses on issues such as housing affordability, strengthening labor unions, universal health care through Medicare for All, reducing the political power of billionaires, and ending US involvement in what he describes as "pointless" wars.[9][15][32]
In The American Prospect, Austin Ahlman called Platner part of "a growing wave of populist Senate candidates who are challenging modern understandings of political labels by forefronting anti-establishment, anti-corporate, and distinctly localist politics and policies".[30] Platner has cited Senator Bernie Sanders as a political influence[15] and labor organizer Jane McAlevey as an inspiration.[25][22]
Platner has explicitly declined to be identified as progressive or liberal, saying, "I think it's silly that thinking people deserve health care, that makes you some kind of lefty. But I do think those working-class policies are necessary."[15][27] He said, "If I am any kind of Democrat, I'm a New Deal Democrat" and named Franklin D. Roosevelt's labor secretary, Frances Perkins, as an inspiration of his, praising her creation of Social Security, a "new" idea at that time.[79] Platner has highlighted his support for gun rights as a point where he differs from mainstream liberals,[21] and has said that many of his friends and colleagues voted for Donald Trump.[27][16][80]
Before running for office, Platner described himself on Reddit as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America who was "pretty radically left" and a "vegetable growing, psychedelics taking socialist" (in 2017) and "rabidly anti-Hillary [Clinton]" (in 2016 Democratic presidential primaries).[51] In a December 2025 interview with The New Yorker, he declined to call himself a socialist and described his political involvement before his campaign as "organizing around mostly local economic justice issues or social justice issues".[81]
Platner has criticized what he calls "the oligarchy", an economic and political system controlled by, and benefiting, the ultra-wealthy, at the expense of everyone else. He advocates for higher taxes on billionaires and large corporations, and more support for the working class.[12][82] At a Labor Day rally headlined by Sanders, Platner said, "We do not live in a system that is broken. We live in a system that is functioning exactly as it's intended. We live in a system that has been built by the political class to enrich, and support, billionaires, on the backs of working people."[82]
Platner supports abolishing ICE and prosecuting ICE agents accused of crimes, which he has called "the moderate position".[83][84]
Platner has called the Gaza genocide "the ultimate moral test of our time", and has strongly criticized the Democratic Party establishment for not doing enough to counter Trump administration policies such as mass deportation and support for Israel's war in Gaza.[12][1][85][86] He has criticized the pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC, and pledged not to take campaign contributions from it, "or any group that supports the genocide in Gaza".[87][28] Republicans and conservative outlets[88] have called Platner "Maine's Mamdani", referencing the democratic socialist mayor of New York City, and have condemned Platner's outspoken criticism of Israel and its actions in Gaza. Platner opposes the 2026 Iran war, has called it a "horrific war of choice",[89][90] and has said Senator John Fetterman should be voted out for backing it.[91]
Platner credits his military experience with forming his populist politics.[12] He has called US "military adventurism" a "mechanism of moving taxpayer dollars into the private bank accounts of defense companies, all on the backs of frankly working-class men and women, and on the backs of the people living in societies that we took the wars to".[12] While critical of excessive military spending, Platner has advocated for supplying military aid to Ukraine during the Russo-Ukrainian war; he described the Ukrainian defense from Russia's invasion as "resisting with all the means that they can, and I personally think that we should provide them with support."[30]
Platner has said his veterans' healthcare and disability benefits have enabled him to run his small business, and argues that all Americans should have access to increased social welfare, regardless of military service.[33]
Platner has a more moderate position on firearm regulation than some Democrats, recognizing the importance of guns in Maine's hunting and rural communities. When asked about his position on gun control after the 2025 Annunciation Catholic Church shooting, he expressed support for red flag laws, provided they are "written in such a way that they don't impede the ability of legal gun owners to have access to their firearms".[92] Platner has also said he supports universal background checks. He opposes a ban on semi-automatic assault weapons, saying, "We need to have a much more holistic approach than simply banning types of guns that we already have uncountable numbers of in the United States".[93]
Asked about his stance on LGBTQ rights, Platner said, "I stand right in the fucking way of anyone who's going to try to come after the freedoms of the LGBTQIA+ community."[94]
At a May 22, 2026, town hall, Platner said he had "ranked" Troy Jackson, Shenna Bellows, and Hannah Pingree, respectively, in the 2026 Democratic primary for governor of Maine. He said, "Those three candidates, all of them—whether it's on issues of democracy and standing up to Donald Trump, whether it's around the environment, whether it's around, like, broader progressive values—they are the ones that I think most represent my value set and the kind of future of the Democratic Party and future of the American political system that I want to see."[95]
Personal life
Platner lives in Sullivan, Maine.[23] He married Amy Gertner in the autumn of 2023.[96][6] Gertner was an elementary and middle school art teacher until 2024, when she became the business manager for Waukeag Neck Oyster Co, which Platner has run since 2019.[6][16] Platner is also a competitive pistol shooter and firearms instructor.[21]
Much of Platner's extended family is Jewish,[97] and his stepbrother, Seth Frantzman, senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post, lives in Jerusalem. Platner has said that he is friends with members of the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem.[98][99]
In January 2026, after exploring options in the United States and finding them too expensive, Platner and his wife announced they would try to conceive a child through in vitro fertilization in Norway.[100] In April, they announced that his wife had suffered a miscarriage.[101]
