Graham Platner has returned to oyster farming on the Maine coast after his once-surging Democratic Senate campaign collapsed under rape and sexual misconduct allegations. The former candidate sounded [1] as ornery as ever when The Post encountered him near Sullivan one week before the midterm election.
Platner had paddled ashore in a kayak while leaving his boat anchored in the water. His greeting was blunt: “Who the f–k are you weirdos?”
Asked what he was doing while his replacement, state Sen. Troy Jackson, remained neck and neck in polls with Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine Republican, Platner snapped back. “What the f–k does it look like I’m up to? I’m being an oyster farmer.”
The Post suggested that life along Maine’s picturesque coast might be preferable to campaigning and trying to reach Washington, DC. Platner offered little reflection, saying, “It just seems to be, like, life, man.”
Asked how oyster farming had treated him since he left the Senate race in July, Platner kept up the same prickly posture. “It goes the way it always goes, friend.”
“People from away have no idea what it is we do for a living,” Platner added. He then drove away in his truck without answering questions about his predictions for the Nov. 3 election.
Platner had built his campaign around a working-class persona, but revelations complicated that carefully cultivated image. He was described as a son of privilege who attended one of New England’s most prestigious preparatory schools.
The oyster farming piece of the campaign image also proved less sweeping than it appeared. His only client was his mother’s restaurant.
Platner has largely stayed away from public attention since his campaign imploded during the summer. The allegations included claims that he sexted women who were not his wife, behaved violently with former lovers, and committed sexual assault.
One former lover also said Platner claimed he would rape a male intruder who broke into his apartment as a display of dominance. Platner admitted to sexting but denied the other accusations.
The Democrat had been rising in polls and had won admiration from leading leftists in Washington before the campaign collapsed. He claimed the downfall resulted from a broad conspiracy against him because his political message was too powerful.
Some Sullivan residents said Platner appeared healthier after leaving the campaign behind. Josh Winer, owner of the Dunbar Store, said the former candidate had returned to being “just a regular person again.”
“He looks a whole lot more healthy than he did,” Winer said. His deli menu includes a roast beef sandwich named after Platner, who has frequented the business for years.
“Now it’s just him again. He gets a sandwich on his own. We talk about oysters. It’s back to normal,” Winer said. “He’s been a regular here for years. Then he ran for office and still came in when he could, or he’d send his people in for lunch.”
Other residents were far less welcoming toward the former candidate, whose downtown office had been emptied and closed. “He’s not a favorite around here. Especially with the women,” one local fruit seller said. “Just drop it.”
Maintenance worker Allan Flye, 59, said the accusations changed his view of Platner. “I heard all the negativity, and it was a turn-off for me,” Flye said. “I might have voted for him if there was less negativity about him.”
The misconduct allegations were not Platner’s only controversy. He was also exposed for having a Nazi Death’s Head tattoo on his chest and for writing alarming comments about rape and police on internet forums from roughly 2013 through 2021.
Platner later covered the tattoo and said he had gotten it while drunk with fellow Marines, insisting he did not know the symbol’s dark history. He attributed his online comments to a period when he was suffering from PTSD.
“He probably tarnished himself more than anything,” Flye said. “I don’t think the town was really affected by it.”
Platner once polled 7 points ahead of Collins, a moderate Republican who has held office since 1997. Jackson, selected by the party to replace Platner, was leading Collins by less than 2 points, according to RealClearPolitics.
“I was going to vote for [Platner] until they kicked him out, so I’ll vote for his replacement,” said Mary, a local voter. “I’m not voting Republican.”