The Call for Platner Is from Inside the Progressive House

[ericjhensal]

From Jenny Racicot in the Politico article on her sexual assault allegation against now-former Senate candidate Graham Platner

"One of the reasons I didn’t come forward sooner was, the huge moral conflict that I had between supporting his politics, but not supporting him..."

I believe Racicot and also that her sincere political convictions put her in a horrible position—weighing justice for the crime against her versus whatever horrible crimes could flow from a missing U.S. Senate vote. She spoke with the New York Times first, but she did not trust the New York Times with the story. She squared this circle working with Cheyenne Hunt and her organization Reckoning Action to force Platner from the campaign. Ousting Platner was no revenge of the establishment or some grand Trumpian project to stop a progressive. It was a progressive project—and to understand why, we need to look at the beginning.

Culturing an Oyster

Graham Platner was cultured, not natural. Michael Kruse's Politico December 2025 article on Platner's origin is a very enlightening read on how he was found, and grown. For our purpose, we will start the story with Daniel Moraff and Leanne Fan, a couple who met on the 2020 Sanders campaign and, apparently, roam the country identifying white male mesomorph veteran candidates to cultivate—like Dan Osborn in Nebraska and Nathan Sage in Iowa. Moraff and Fan were in Maine in 2025 when their first choice for the Senate race washed out for some reason that now likely pales in comparison to Platner's demise. So, since they made the trip, they rooted around Maine's political refrigerator, called a few people, and got to Platner through his mom at her restaurant.

Now, Platner has never been elected to anything and has no base at this point. His closet had never been pressure-tested by even a local campaigns, which often get uglier and more personal than any U.S. Senate race. But Moraff and Fan were excited as baseball scouts with a hot prospect, and they called Morris Katz a partner at the Fight Agency, who is known for working with U.S. Senator Fetterman, Osborn and newly elected Mayor Mamdani. Katz flew up to Maine, and he got excited by the prospect, while never considering whether Platner had serious trouble with the curveball.

** snip **

Inside the Progressive House

[LisaL]

1. These people didn't do him any favors either.

There were so many obvious issues with his background, which they ignored. They obviously should have known better, given that they had experience with politics and he had none.

[ericjhensal]

2. We should have known better

The more I turn this over in my head, the more I get stuck on the fact we wouldn't be in this position if progressives writ large were more thoughtful about who we choose to support. In some very significant ways we have people on our side who are just as enamored with images as MAGA folks can be.