Maine Senate Candidate Graham Platner Faces Abuse Allegations, Nazi‑Tattoo Controversy and Sexting Scandal

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner, a combat veteran and oyster farmer, is the presumptive nominee in Maine’s June 9 primary against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins. During the campaign he has been hit with a series of personal attacks. A New York Times report based on interviews with six former girlfriends describes a pattern of “volatile” and “toxic” relationships. One woman, former Heritage Foundation staffer Lyndsey Fifield, said Platner would “grab her by the shoulders…sometimes hard enough to leave marks,” and recounted an incident where he “twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed so she couldn’t get out, telling her to stay until she was ‘calm.’” She also quoted him saying, “If anybody ever broke in here, I would rape them…not in a gay way, but to show I’m dominant.” The report also revisits Platner’s controversial skull‑and‑crossbones tattoo, which he initially described as a Nazi SS Totenkopf. Fifield said he referred to it as “my Totenkopf” years before the controversy became public, contradicting the campaign’s claim that he was unaware of its meaning. In addition, the candidate is under scrutiny for a sexting scandal that revealed sexually explicit messages he sent to several women while married. Platner’s campaign has denied the violent allegations, calling them “politically motivated” and stating that “the serious allegations are simply not true.” The candidate has admitted to a “very dark period” marked by undiagnosed PTSD, heavy drinking and poor behavior, but says he has taken responsibility for that past. High‑profile Democrats—including Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer—have continued to endorse him, arguing that his chances of flipping the Senate outweigh the personal controversies.