The wife of presumptive Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner recorded a video message expressing her support for her husband, and disappointment in the negative attacks by the media that followed reports that Platner exchanged sexually explicit text messages with other women in the spring of 2025.
Amy Gertner, married to Platner since 2023, told a former campaign director about Platner sexting other women during their marriage as part of the vetting process. Gertner said she worried that the information could be harmful to the campaign.
That campaign director, Genevieve McDonald, along with other campaign staffers determined that the information was a private matter. McDonald was one of three people who left the Platner campaign after details of a Nazi tattoo, along with online posts of a racist, sexist, and homophobic nature became public.
The Wall Street Journal and New York Times published reports on the text messages.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Platner has an active account on Kik, a private messaging platform sometimes used for sexting. The account is listed under the username phustle0331 and includes a profile picture taken in mirror that shows a shirtless man with a towel wrapped around his waist with tattoos that seem to match those on Platner’s arms.
Platner’s campaign says that he deleted the app from his phone but the account had not been deactivated.
In a statement released by Platner’s campaign, Gertner said she was “deeply hurt” by the news that McDonald had shared details of Platner’s text messages with reporters.
“I know who Graham is. I know the man I married and the husband he has been to me on the best and the worst days of my life. That hasn’t changed, and it won’t.”
Gertner said in a five-minute video that “no marriage is perfect” and blasted those “who are willing to spread gossip instead of talking about real issues.”