Platner reshuffles campaign and sends out NDAs as he struggles to get ahead of controversies

Graham Platner is attempting to recalibrate his campaign amidst a storm of controversy, appointing a long-time associate as the new manager of his Senate campaign in Maine. This strategic pivot includes hiring a compliance firm and dispatching non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to campaign staffers.

Kevin Brown, who stepped in as campaign manager this week, brings a wealth of experience from his work on high-profile presidential campaigns, including those of Elizabeth Warren and Barack Obama—albeit without any prior experience in Maine politics. However, Brown is not the only new face in the mix. The campaign has also secured an in-house attorney and brought on Spruce Street Consulting—a compliance firm linked to a network of notable progressives, including Zohran Mamdani.

In the wake of backlash over Platner’s controversial social media posts from years past, the campaign began circulating NDAs to staff last week. Genevieve McDonald, a former top political director for Platner, revealed that she opted not to sign one of these agreements. “The campaign offered me $15,000 to sign an NDA,” McDonald recounted in an interview with POLITICO. “I did not accept the offer. I certainly could have used the money. I quit my job to work on Platner’s campaign, believing it was something different than it is.”

The campaign characterized the $15,000 offer as “standard severance.” A spokesperson for Platner explained that Spruce Street was hired to establish necessary compliance practices that had previously been lacking. “Some of those standards had to be instituted retroactively, but as a matter of course, we do not require anyone previously involved in the campaign to do so,” they added, emphasizing that McDonald’s severance offer was typical for campaign employees and contractors.

These recent developments highlight the fragility of Platner’s campaign, which initially gained traction through viral videos showcasing him as a progressive champion advocating for Mainers’ “freedom to live a life of dignity and joy.” However, as his campaign faced negative press about his past, particularly following Governor Janet Mills’ entry into the primary, Platner’s position has become increasingly tenuous.

In a moment of damage control, Platner confirmed to The Advocate that his Reddit posts contained “homophobic slurs, anti-LGBTQ+ jokes, and sexually explicit stories denigrating gay men.” This follows his earlier admission of regretting a Nazi symbol tattooed on his chest two decades ago, alongside previously unearthed offensive Reddit posts that included one from 2013 minimizing sexual assault in the military and another since-deleted 2018 post advocating for violence to achieve social change. Platner has since apologized for these past actions, asserting they do not reflect his evolution over the years.

Brown, the newly appointed campaign manager, declined to comment publicly on these developments.

The NDA first emerged within the campaign shortly after Platner faced scrutiny for his Reddit posts last week. The document was sent electronically by a campaign contractor to McDonald, who had resigned just two days prior. Remarkably, the campaign voided the NDA at 7:04 p.m. Wednesday—a few days after McDonald had already stepped down and hours after POLITICO sought clarification regarding the use of NDAs.

Titled “Graham for Maine NDA.pdf,” the agreement was dispatched by Victoria Perrone, president and founder of Spruce Street. When reached for comment, Perrone acknowledged Platner as a client but refrained from providing further details.

McDonald interpreted the financial offer as contingent upon her signing the NDA. She presented a screenshot of a text message from Perrone indicating that if McDonald could “get it back to me before the end of the day, I can get your payments out the door.” She also mentioned that Daniel Moraff, a consultant for Nebraska Senate candidate Dan Osborn’s 2024 campaign, had effectively acted as the campaign manager before Brown’s arrival this week. In a brief conversation, Moraff clarified that he was never officially designated as Platner’s campaign manager.

McDonald ultimately resigned, citing discomfort with Platner’s past posts. “Either they didn’t thoroughly vet him, or they didn’t think the things they found would be a problem,” she remarked. “Either way, that was a poor calculus. You cannot say things like rural Mainers are ‘racist’ and ‘stupid’ or that you’re a radicalized communist at 37, play them off as ‘you were a young man,’ and remain a serious contender against Susan Collins. This was four years ago.”

A representative from the Platner campaign dismissed McDonald as a “disgruntled former employee” in comments to the Bangor Daily News, before subsequently voiding her NDA offer.

The long-term effects of Platner’s past controversies on his campaign remain uncertain in this unpredictable political landscape, where both parties are grappling with the implications of their candidates’ histories.

A poll released this Thursday by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center—conducted amidst the unfolding of some of Platner’s Reddit controversies—revealed that Platner leads Mills in a primary matchup, 58 percent to 24 percent, according to first-choice preferences for Maine’s ranked-choice voting system. The poll found that both candidates maintain positive favorability ratings among likely Democratic primary voters, with Platner’s edge particularly pronounced among younger voters.