Graham Platner announced July 8 he was dropping out of the race for Senate in Maine.
Nine days later, his campaign paid his wife, Amy Gertner, $20,246 for “severance payroll.”
That’s part of the more than $350,000 Platner’s campaign paid out in severances, according to a filing with the Federal Election Commission. Others on the payroll received between $3,500 and $20,000 each in severance. Gertner received the most.
Gertner had a visible role on Platner’s campaign. When he came under scrutiny for sending sexually explicit texts to other women, Gertner filmed a selfie-style video defending her marriage and calling the stories “gossip.” Platner has denied the allegations, which later included a former girlfriend saying he had sexually assaulted her.
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Campaign staffers, including Gertner, also received a $979 “win bonus” on July 3, a month after Platner’s primary victory.
Several staffers received severance payments of about $9,000. Some of them, per their personal LinkedIn pages, are current college students.
The campaign also paid out more than $70,000 in refunds to donors.
Platner’s team had more than $1.7 million on hand at the beginning of July. After campaign expenditures, severance and refunds, the campaign ended September with just about $99,000 remaining.
None of the leftover money went to Troy Jackson, Platner’s replacement in the race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins — perhaps due to political optics.
“That’s ‘Nazi accused rapist’ money,” a Democratic strategist told The Washington Sun in July. “The best thing he could do is give it to a women’s charity, specifically an organization supporting rape victims.”
Platner’s treasurer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sara Gideon, the Democrat who challenged Collins in 2020, still has $2 million in her campaign accounts. In recent months, she distributed $310,000 to Maine Democrats and $70,000 to other Democratic candidates across the country.
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