U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) held a town hall at the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath Thursday evening, where he fielded a range of questions about his campaign, his personal background and the recent departure of former political director Genevieve McDonald.
Platner, who grew up in Eastern Maine and later served deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan before returning home to become an oyster farmer, used the event to frame his campaign around working-class issues. He argued that Maine politics has drifted toward partisan messaging and away from the daily needs of residents struggling with housing costs, health care access and declining economic stability in rural communities.
A student in the audience asked Platner to address the resignation of former state representative and lobbyist Genevieve McDonald as his campaign’s political director on October 17, the nondisclosure agreement (NDA) his campaign offered her during the exit process and her claims regarding a tattoo Platner has had for 20 years. The student noted that the NDA was later voided and asked why it had been issued in the first place.
Platner said NDAs are commonly used in political campaigns and said they were issued to the full staff after a compliance firm evaluated the campaign’s internal procedures. He said McDonald’s Facebook claims following her departure were false and reiterated that she was present when he first learned that reporters had questions about the tattoo.
“My former...
U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) held a town hall at the Chocolate Church Arts Center in Bath Thursday evening, where he fielded a range of questions about his campaign, his personal backg...