U.S. Senate candidate from Maine Graham Platner during a campaign event with the Maine AFL-CIO, on May 1, 2026 in Portland, Maine.
Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner is once again on the defensive following a report from the New York Times in which some of his ex-girlfriends recounted his “unsettling” and “toxic” behavior during their volatile past relationships. One of the women, Lyndsey Fifield, has accused Platner of abuse. The Times spoke to a few of Platner’s former partners who recalled their time together in a more positive light, but the report also detailed moments of heavy drinking and heated arguments with Fifield alleging Platner grabbed her by the shoulders, sometimes with enough force to bruise, and once forcibly pushed her into a room and blocked the door so she couldn’t leave. Fifeld has since spoken out against both Platner and the Times, which she accuses of soft-pedaling her own story, as well as omitting the accounts of at least two other women. Fifield also told the Times that Platner knew his now-infamous removed tattoo was a Nazi symbol, despite his denials of that during a campaign crisis last year.
While Platner, an oyster farmer and military veteran, is denying any and all claims of abusive or threatening behavior, the report is just the latest scandal to dog the first-time candidate, who is seeking to dethrone five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins and help Democrats take back the Senate this fall. Platner had looked set to secure the Democratic nomination on Tuesday after the recent exit of Governor Janet Mills, who long trailed the political newcomer despite backing from the Senate Democratic Establishment. From Platner’s prime-time news response, to Fifield’s statements, to the varied reaction among the senators he hopes to be serving alongside next year, here’s a look at the fallout.
