Graham Planter, as Deanna wrote here, has quite the troubling history. One that Senate Democrats refuse to address, even today. It’s now gotten troubling enough that he’s spent the last week trying to get staffers to sign NDAs in order to stop the flow of damaging info.

Graham Platner is shaking up his campaign amid a swirl of controversy, bringing in a longtime friend to function as his Maine Senate campaign’s new manager, hiring a compliance firm and sending non-disclosure agreements to staffers.

Kevin Brown — who became the campaign manager this week and whose past campaign work includes the presidential bids of Elizabeth Warren and Barack Obama, though he has not worked in Maine — is only one of the changes. The campaign has also brought on an in-house attorney, as well as compliance firm Spruce Street Consulting, which has ties to a constellation of buzzy progressives including Zohran Mamdani.

Let’s recap for a minute shall we? Graham Plantner is supposedly just one of those ordinary Maine guys who served in the Marines, and then came home to be your average Joe oyster farmer. Who then decided to throw his hat in the ring to run against Susan Collins. 

And… then the reports started surfacing of his incredibly crass and racist Reddit posts. He’s a communist and socialist. He hates gays and transgenders. Thought/thinks rape is no big deal, especially in the military. And absolutely does not like cops. 

Well now, his campaign has been in a mad scramble to right the ship. Of course, his new batch of people are getting help from the Senate Democrats. 

Not one senator said Platner’s tattoo or other controversies were disqualifying, and several acknowledged he’s bringing excitement to a party that has been struggling in the political wilderness since President Donald Trump took back power in January.

Platner is “exciting,” said Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., as he waved away questions about his recent controversies. “Mainers will figure it out.”

Bernie Sanders is standing by his man. 

Unfortunately, even some Republicans refuse to outright call for him to drop out of the campaign. Given today’s political climate, I can …partly understand why. 

But Platner isn’t just a poor oyster farmer who saw major tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan. He grew up privileged and was sent to a very, and I mean VERY elite private school. Which isn’t all bad, until you look at the choices and stances on issues. He wasn’t a youngster when he ranted on Reddit. He was a grown man. 

And then there’s this via The Daily Wire. Platner was a member of the Socialist Rifle Association. Yes, there is evidently such a thing. And members of that group targeted ICE agents at the ICE facility in Texas on July 4 of this year. Furthermore, given Platner’s anti-gay/transgender Reddit posts, the origin of the Socialist Rifle Association is quite interesting. 

The Socialist Rifle Association was incorporated in Kansas in 2019 by Alexander Tackett, who later began identifying as a woman named Alex Norma Tackett. A website for a queer bookstore he owned said, “Lilith [it/she] & Alex Tackett [she/it] are a trans lesbian couple living in Wichita with their six-year-old son.”

The group’s co-founder was Faye Ecklar, who explained that “I believe firearms ownership is necessary because as a transgender socialist, half the country wants me dead, and the other half is happy to watch. Plus, the means of production won’t seize themselves.”

Sounds like a great guy. 

That said, Graham Platner knows his past is troubling enough and is doing a mad scramble to ensure his staffers stop talking. And… throwing money at them to do so! 

Yikes. Self-described communist Graham Platner offered his former campaign chief $15k to sign an NDA. She declined, and resigned over his Reddit posts, and then called him out for misleading statements about the Nazi tattoo. https://t.co/RwZwTQyoZS pic.twitter.com/27lr5N3lG3

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) October 23, 2025

You know what that tells me? He KNOWS his Nazi issues and Reddit posts are a big problem. Oh sure, his new campaign manager is trying to tout all the polls, but they all know there’s a big problem. 

From @grahamformaine's town hall last night:

"The establishment is spooked. If they thought that ripping my life to pieces, trying to destroy it, was going to make me think that I shouldn't undertake this project, they clearly have not spent a lot of time around Marines." pic.twitter.com/orBhKppyXA

— David Weigel (@daveweigel) October 23, 2025

As noted above, Democrats and well known Democrat consultants refuse to disavow Platner. 

Good reminder that the DC pundit class has no fucking clue what actual Maine voters think or how they will vote. Platner had a terrible week, maybe it’s a fatal wound, but the election is in June. God only knows what voters will be talking about then. https://t.co/nNzP4cUuG7

— Tommy Vietor (@TVietor08) October 23, 2025

Meanwhile other polls supposedly have Platner ahead of Mills. I want to know who the pollsters are actually talking to. 

Oh sure, people are saying no need to worry since the primary isn’t until next summer. But the thing is, the guy has a problematic history. Claiming that he was just misguided and dealing with PTSD is no excuse. Furthermore, quickly getting his very SS tattoo redesigned doesn’t make the issue go away. Yet the Democrats, who have claimed every Republican is a Nazi are willing to give him a pass. Because REASONS. 

Pete Hegseth and his Jerusalem Cross tattoo — “he’s a white nationalist!!”

Graham Platner and his Totenkopf tattoo — “This requires context and nuance”

— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) October 22, 2025

I certainly hope Mainers are paying attention to this guy. The fact that he is throwing NDAs around like confetti, WITH money backing them up, tells me that they all know his campaign is in trouble. 

They can spin all they want. The fact is, this guy is bad news.

Democrats have quite a menu of candidates to choose from.
A Nazi in Maine
A communist in NY
A Navy cheater in NJ
A guy who wants to murder children in Virginia. pic.twitter.com/2MTj2djwZv

— Big Fish (@BigFish3000) October 22, 2025

Sadly, people will not engage in their thorough research and instead will buy into his schtick. If they don’t wake up, Maine will suffer as a result.

Feature Photo Credit: Original Artwork by Victory Girls Darleen Click