Graham Platner’s campaign manager is stepping down after less than a week on the job, the latest departure on a campaign that has seen several high-profile shake-ups in recent weeks as it attempts to fend off a string of controversies.
The move, which was first reported by Axious, comes as the Maine Senate candidate has attracted a wave of criticism for troves of unearthed Reddit posts in which he endorsed political violence, downplayed concerns about sexual assault in the military and self-identified as a communist.
“Graham is a dear friend,” Kevin Brown, the former campaign manager, told POLITICO in a statement Monday. “I started this campaign Tuesday but found out Friday we have a baby on the way. Graham deserves someone who is 100% in on his race and we want to lean into this new experience as a family so it was best we step back sooner than later so Graham can get the Manager he deserves.”
The progressive oyster farmer running to unseat Republican Sen. Susan Collins has attempted to turn the page on the since-deleted comments, explaining in a video that the comments reflected his mental state following his military deployment to Afghanistan and that they are not representative of his present views.
POLITICO reported on Thursday that Brown, who has worked for Democrats like Barack Obama and Elizabeth Warren, joined the campaign as manager after Genevieve McDonald, Platner’s former political director, resigned.
The campaign has also brought on an in-house attorney and hired a compliance firm tied to progressive candidates, in addition to sending non-disclosure agreements to staffers, POLITICO previously reported.
His campaign has also been bogged down by controversy surrounding a tattoo that resembles a Nazi symbol. Platner has said that he was not aware of the symbol’s implications when he got it nearly two decades ago and has since had the tattoo covered up.
Still, Platner has continued to poll ahead of his Democratic primary opponent, Maine Gov. Janet Mills, despite the party establishment throwing its weight behind Mills’ campaign.
