Morris Katz, a senior political adviser to Graham Platner, said he was “deeply disappointed” when he learned of the sexual assault allegations leveled against the U.S. Senate candidate in Maine that led to him dropping out of the race.
“As soon as the team became aware of the rape allegations against Graham Platner we advised he suspend his candidacy, and in the following days worked to wind down the campaign,” Katz said Thursday. “Like so many of his supporters, I’m deeply disappointed.”
Katz was seen as a key figure in Platner’s rise throughout the primary season, and has worked on other successful Democratic campaigns, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s.
“Within, like, five minutes I was thinking, ‘Holy s***, this guy can help save the Democratic Party,’” Katz told Politico of Platner before the scandal dropped.
Platner has been dogged by allegations of questionable behavior throughout his campaign, but was taken out when an ex-girlfriend leveled accusations of sexual assault against him in a Politico report Monday. Many Democrats who had stood by him as he defended his tattoo of Nazi imagery and other reports of threatening behavior toward women soon rescinded their endorsements of Platner, and it was assumed he’d be dropping out of the race.
He made the official announcement Wednesday evening, rejecting the allegations and saying, “This was the last week to try to get me off of the ballot, and that’s why this is occurring.”
In the few days between the allegations being made public and his dropping out, various reports arose that people high in his campaign were attempting to hold sway over how the process would play out when Platner did eventually drop out. Katz was reported to be one of the campaign advisers pushing the party to allow Platner greater say in who would replace him. Katz rebutted the report.
In response to previous allegations from a separate ex-girlfriend that arose ahead of the primary, Katz reportedly threatened a former staffer if she cooperated with outlets on the story.
“Just want to be clear on where we are right now,” Katz wrote in the message, according to the Bangor Daily News. “If the story goes in its current iteration we’ll communicate directly on the record, and by name, that Genevieve violated the personal trust of Amy and Graham and shared explicit falsehoods to sabotage the campaign.”
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Despite Platner releasing a video stating he’ll drop out of the race, he has not filed the official paperwork yet, leading to speculation he wouldn’t adhere to the deadline of Monday at 5 p.m. to do so. However, Katz replied to a social media user affirming Platner would indeed submit the paperwork.
“Is he gonna submit the paperwork, Morris?” user Ben Yelin wrote.
“Yes,” Katz responded.
After Platner files the paperwork, the Maine Democratic Party has said it will hold a nominating convention to determine Platner’s replacement. They have until July 27 at 5 p.m. to name the Democrat who will face Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in the general election.
