Democrats reportedly turned to embattled Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner after finding their first choice had a big &#8220;skeleton&#8221; in his closet. 
Last July, two Boston-based Democratic operatives who met on Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential campaign began searching for someone who could take down Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/12/05/graham-platner-maine-senate-collins-00677731">according to Politico.</a> National Democrats view the seat as their best path to flip control of the upper chamber. 
Daniel Moraff and Leanne Fan, who are engaged, have built an impressive political resume for finding unconventional candidates. During the 2024 cycle, the pair recruited independent candidate Dan Osborne to challenge vulnerable Republican Sen. Deb Fischer in Nebraska. Osborne, who was expected to caucus with Democrats if elected, forced Republicans to spend heavily to defend the seat. His pro-union, working-class campaign resonated with voters, allowing him to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-nebraska.html">outperform Harris by nearly eight points.</a>
Fresh off that effort, the couple turned their attention to Maine, scrambling to find a left-wing populist after their initial choice – union boss Chris Williams — was sidelined by an undisclosed scandal.
“It was a go,” Moraff told Politico. “But there was a skeleton closet that wasn’t true that we would’ve had to explain.” 
“They decided to go in a different direction,” he added. 
That different direction led Moraff and Fan to the home of Platner’s mother, Leslie Harlow, on Maine&#8217;s Ironbound Island. 
“They came to Ironbound knowing I was Graham’s mother,” Harlow told Politico. 
The operatives explained the type of candidate they were looking for and then asked for Platner’s cell number.
“And he came back in and said,” Harlow recalled to Politico, “‘Well, I guess we’re going to meet Graham tomorrow at 6 a.m.’”
About a month later, Platner launched his campaign on August 19 in a viral video that quickly attracted national attention from leftist activists and Democratic donors. 
But the oyster farmer’s sugar high has come crashing down in recent weeks amid a barrage of negative press about Platner&#8217;s personal misconduct. 
The Daily Wire previously uncovered that the Senate hopeful maintained an active account on a social media platform known to attract child predators. Over the weekend, several media outlets reported that Platner, a married man, had exchanged sexually explicit messages with several women. 
On Thursday, the latest shoe dropped. 
Platner engaged in a pattern of “intimidating and disturbing” behavior toward multiple women and lied about not knowing the meaning of his Nazi tattoo, according to a New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us/politics/platner-maine-senate-girlfriends-relationships.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share">report</a>. 
Three of Platner’s ex-girlfriends described volatile and “toxic” relationships with the Senate hopeful, claiming he demeaned women, became physically threatening, and was repeatedly unfaithful. On one occasion, an ex-girlfriend accused Platner of twisting her arm, shoving her into a bedroom, and holding the door shut until she became “calm.” 
Platner appeared on MS NOW to do damage control.
“There are some allegations in this piece that I just want to be kind of unequivocal about, are simply not true,” Platner said on the leftist television network. “Anything alleging physicality, anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was, these are the statements of someone who’s politically motivated.”
Platner has shown no signs of suspending his campaign. He&#8217;s set to hold a <a href="https://www.mobilize.us/grahamformaine/event/959224/">campaign event Friday night</a> with Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA).

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Graham Platner Was Really Left’s 2nd Choice For Maine Senate — Option 1 Had A Big ‘Skeleton’