Graham Platner’s campaign has spent about $2.3 million since July, when he exited Maine’s Senate race. The campaign’s war chest paid severance to his wife and staff and kept consultants on the books, but made no contributions to Troy Jackson, the Democrat who replaced him, or to the Maine Democratic Party, a new federal filing shows.
Platner dropped out July 8, eight days into the quarter covered by the Federal Election Commission report. Nine days later, his campaign paid his wife, Amy Gertner, $20,246 — the largest severance check the campaign issued.
Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer, entered the race in August 2025 as a political unknown. Small-dollar donations carried his campaign to more than $21 million, and he beat Gov. Janet Mills in the June primary. Gertner was a public face of the campaign, even posting a video defending their marriage after reports that Platner had sent sexually explicit texts to other women.
Platner stayed in the race after those reports. In July, a former partner accused him of sexual assault, which he has denied. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee pulled its support, ads backing Platner came off the air, and the Maine Democratic Party called on him to step aside. His campaign kept soliciting donations online as the pressure built. Despite Platner announcing his exit in the Maine Senate race, he held off on filing formal paperwork, leaving Democrats unsure for days whether he was out.
Gertner was on the campaign payroll from the beginning. Federal rules allow campaigns to pay a candidate’s relatives only for actual work, at market rates. The severance was set by the staff’s union contract and based on tenure, according to a former campaign official.
Severance and bonuses
Staff severance totaled more than $350,000. Other staffers received between $3,500 and $20,000. Several of the roughly $9,000 payments went to individuals whose LinkedIn profiles list them as current college students.
On July 3, five days before Platner withdrew, Gertner and about 30 other staffers also received $979 bonuses for the June primary win.
Consultants collected about $350,000 between July and October, roughly a third of it after Platner left the race, after their contracts formerly being tenured through Election Day. The campaign has refunded about $200,000 to donors this cycle, including $75,628 since July.
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What’s left
The campaign started July with about $1.76 million in the bank. Over the quarter, it raised about $509,000 in contributions and received about $131,000 in refunds and rebates on earlier spending. By Sept. 30, it had $98,964 left and no debts.
What happens to that money is up to Platner. Federal rules allow him to give it to charity, refund donors, give up to $2,000 to another candidate, transfer any amount to a party committee, or keep it for a future run. He legally cannot spend it on personal expenses.
Through Sept. 30, the campaign had not sent money to the Maine Democratic Party, according to its latest filing. The report lists no transfers to other committees, and its only other disbursements, $2,737.80, went to International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1837 for union dues. Over the course of the campaign, party committees contributed $63,000 to Platner.
His campaign and the Maine Democratic Party clashed this summer over how to pick his replacement. In July, a Democratic strategist told the Washington Sun that the money would be toxic for anyone who took it.
Jackson keeps his distance
Jackson, a former Maine Senate president, entered the race the day before Platner announced his exit. Maine Democrats nominated Jackson at a special convention on July 25.
Jackson raised $20.4 million in his first three months in the race against Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, about four times what Collins brought in, FEC filings show. He spent most of it, ending September with $4 million in the bank and about $1 million in debt to a vendor. Collins finished the quarter with $5.4 million and no debt.
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Other Maine Democrats have given away leftover campaign money. Sara Gideon, who lost to Collins in 2020, has given about $380,000 to Democrats. Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, who is not seeking reelection, has given to about 10 moderate Democrats around the country.
Platner has rarely appeared in public since he withdrew. He was scheduled to speak at a Labor Day veterans event in Ellsworth but backed out after criticism.