Three women who dated Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner described him as physically intimidating and emotionally abusive, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The report was long anticipated after rumors started circulating within political circles from Maine to Washington. It came days into the campaign’s attempts to recover from a weekend revelation that Platner sent sexually explicit text messages to women early in his marriage and just five days before the candidate’s primary election.
The Times’ story focused on the three women who previously dated Platner and described him as emotionally volatile, demeaning toward women, and at times physically aggressive. One of the women, Lyndsey Fifield, claimed that Platner, in one instance, yanked her from a taxi.
In another instance, she said Platner twisted her arm behind her back and trapped her in a room. However, Fifield told the Times that Platner never hit her nor caused injury.
The story sheds some light on the time between Platner’s military service and his return to Maine. He dated Fifield during his years in Washington D.C. She also refutes claims that he made during another October maelstrom for his campaign: that he didn’t know for years that he had a tattoo of a Nazi symbol.
The Bangor Daily News spoke to Fifield earlier in the week, and she denied involvement in any forthcoming story about Platner, saying “No, that is not correct” in response to a reporter’s questions about her being a named subject of an upcoming piece.
Fifield told the Times that Platner would refer to the tattoo — which came to light in October — as “my Totenkopf.” In the months since it was revealed that Platner had a Nazi tattoo on his chest, he and his campaign have routinely denied that he knew the symbol’s Nazi affiliations.
His ex-girlfriend also told the Times that Platner frequently said he would “rape” anyone who ever broke into his apartment to show them that he was “dominant,” the story said.
The Times’ report comes days after Platner’s campaign was rocked by revelations that his wife, Amy Gertner, disclosed to an aide in August 2025 that she had seen texts between Platner and other women over the weekend. Aides concluded that the texts were a private matter for Platner and Gertner to address in counseling.
A top aide to Platner’s campaign, Morris Katz, who also works with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, sent a warning through an intermediary to an ex-Platner staffer, former state Rep. Genevieve McDonald, that she would be accused of lying and sabotage if she talked with media outlets about those texts. A copy of that message was shared with the BDN.
Platner, who didn’t address the scandal during a weekend event in Auburn, where organizers asked a BDN reporter to leave before the candidate spoke, has accused the national press of “journalistic malpractice” over the sexting stories.
On Tuesday, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer got behind Platner, who traveled to Washington to meet with Senate Democrats. On Wednesday, Platner’s campaign reported a surge in small donations in the wake of the sexting revelation, and in his hometown of Sullivan, the controversies hadn’t yet changed his supporters’ minds.
Since Platner stormed onto the political scene last year, he has faced a barrage of criticism over unearthed inflammatory internet posts and revelations that he had the tattoo of a skull resembling a symbol adopted by the Nazi SS during World War II. He has since had it covered.
Gov. Janet Mills, who suspended her U.S. Senate campaign in April and hit Platner hard over his old internet posts in a series of campaign ads, has said that Republicans would make “mincemeat” of Platner if he emerges as the party’s standard-bearer for the November election.
David Costello also will be on the Democratic June primary ballot seeking the nomination to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November.
While recent polls have given Platner a lead over Maine’s senior senator, the Republican has handily beaten back challengers, including in 2020 when she defied polls and expectations to secure a fifth term in the Senate.
Collins, who has been ranked the country’s most bipartisan senator, has seen her popularity slump since Republican President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House. If she is successful in winning a sixth term, she would be Maine’s longest-serving U.S. senator.
