(TNND) — Days after a sexting scandal hit Graham Platner in his campaign for U.S. Senate in Maine, Fox News has published an analysis of campaign finance records that suggests Platner was taking money from corporate lobbyists despite railing against big business and the oligarchy.
Fox News reviewed Federal Election Commission and Lobbying Disclosure Act records that reportedly showed the Platner campaign accepting more than $30,000 from lobbyists representing pharmaceutical companies, defense firms, technology giants and more. The donation records stretched from last August, when Platner got in the race, to March of this year.
Fox News reported that the donations came from lobbyists and executives, not directly from any companies.
Meanwhile, Fox News noted that Platner signed a pledge a couple of months ago to "put patients over profits" by refusing large contributions from executives, lobbyists or political action committees affiliated with the health care industry. That online pledge is run by a nurses' union.
The contributions in question appear to have been accepted before Platner signed the pledge, said Brendan Glavin, director of insights for OpenSecrets, a research organization tracking money in politics.
It's not unheard of for contributions to slip through and for refunds to be made after they are publicly noticed as violations of a candidate's pledge, Glavin told The National News Desk.
"Generally speaking, these sort of pledges are fairly easy to monitor internally when they involve PAC contributions, which are fewer and easily identifiable. But, vetting individual contributions is harder and requires the campaign to dedicate resources to reviewing individual contributors and refunding those that are from people with connections that violate whatever pledge the candidate has made," Glavin said via email. "(Now) that he made this pledge, the campaign is going to have to ramp up its vetting process to make any money that violates the pledge be refunded as a matter of course."
Nicholas Jacobs, a political scientist at Colby College in Maine, said lobbyists are seeking influence and access to a candidate when they make such donations. But Jacobs, too, said individual contributions can fairly easily fly under the radar before they're flagged and returned.
And, Jacobs said, given Platner's other controversies, "I feel like taking a few thousand dollars from big pharma lobbyists is rather quaint."
Platner's growing list of controversies could become a major liability for his campaign, Jacobs said.
SEE ALSO: Sexting scandal engulfs Maine Democrat Graham Platner in bid to unseat Susan Collins
Platner must first get past the Democratic primary next week in order to take on incumbent Republicans Sen. Susan Collins this fall. But Democrats see Platner's race as critical to hopes of flipping the Senate in the midterm elections.
The latest controversy to dog Platner's campaign broke over the weekend, when the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported that the married Platner previously sent sexually explicit texts to several women.
Platner has been married since 2023, and the extramarital sexting allegedly occurred early last year, before he entered the Senate race.
Platner's wife reportedly flagged the sexually explicit texts to campaign staff last summer in case they would present a liability in the race.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Platner's aides ultimately decided the texts were a private matter. But they've now surfaced for the public, days before voters have their say in Maine's primary election.
Platner's wife called media coverage over the texts "shameful" and stuck up for her husband and his campaign.
THE OUTSIDER WITH PAST CONTROVERSIES
Platner, an unknown oyster farmer and combat veteran with no political experience, was effectively recruited by operatives aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders after they identified him as a candidate who "checked all the boxes" last summer, Jacobs said.
Platner has embraced a liberal, populist message that echoes Sanders' "fight the oligarchy" themes, Jacobs said.
Platner isn't that different than Janet Mills, Maine's two-term Democratic governor who suspended her senatorial campaign in April as she struggled to raise money against the newcomer who "sucked all the oxygen out of the room," Jacobs said.
But Platner is definitely playing to the progressive wing of the party and riding the "populist fury" to a potential showdown with Collins, Jacobs said.
"He's gruff. He doesn't talk like a politician. He's not, he doesn't have the same background as the political class," Jacobs said of Platner's appeal.
Now, Platner must not only overcome the sexting story, but he must also convince voters that he's not the same guy who posted comments to Reddit years ago that are viewed as crude or offensive to women, minorities and rural people.
He's since apologized for those online comments.
And he's got to convince voters that he didn't realize a tattoo he got years ago while in the military resembled a Nazi symbol. He's said he had no idea that the tattoo had that connection when he picked it out, and he's since had it covered up. Platner has also condemned Nazism and antisemitism.
All of the controversies predate the campaign, and so far, Platner has avoided a misstep on the campaign trail, Jacobs said.
But he hasn't been on a debate stage with Collins yet. And he hasn't really taken the slings and arrows from the Republican Party yet, Jacobs said.
Scandals seem to "keep dripping out" from Platner's campaign, Jacobs said. And he said Maine voters might be growing wary of the turmoil.
That, he said, might give the already formidable Republican incumbent a boost to return to the Senate, despite concerns some Maine voters have over giving President Donald Trump two more years of GOP control in Congress.
"I think that's going to weigh heavy on these voters, who have demonstrated time and time again an independence of thought in this state," Jacobs said. "And that is pretty unique to the Maine electorate."
