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Graham Platner shouldn’t be elected to represent Maine in the U.S. Senate, a former high-level staffer for the embattled Democratic candidate told voters just hours before polls opened in the state’s Tuesday primary.

Genevieve McDonald, once a Maine state representative who worked briefly as Platner’s campaign director last year, warned in an op/ed in The Washington Post on Monday evening: «Graham Platner is not someone who would be good for Maine or for the country.»

While she overlooked his Nazi-linked tattoo and possible cheating scandal, McDonald said in the piece titled «I know firsthand why Graham Platner shouldn’t be a U.S. senator» that she couldn’t ignore how «he exhibits a pattern of dishonest behavior,» and ultimately quit the campaign after just two months.

«I was one of the Platner campaign’s first gaslighting casualties,» she wrote.

McDonald said she was «disturbed» by what she learned during her time on his staff from August to October 2025.

«If America wants a stronger democracy, elevating leaders with integrity is essential,» she wrote in the opinion piece. «Leaders with sound judgment and ethics. Leaders who embrace and live the ideals the nation stands for.»

THE GROWING LIST OF CONTROVERSIES THREATENING DEMOCRAT GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID

McDonald complained about the series of skeletons that emerged, including the Nazi-linked tattoo on his chest, recent allegations of physical misconduct with an ex-girlfriend and lewd Reddit posts that have rocked his campaign.

She specifically took issue with one Reddit post where Platner said white, rural Americans are ‘racist’ and ‘stupid.’ The demographic he attacked is the one in which he is now hoping to represent in the U.S. Senate.

McDonald also slammed the campaign’s «feigned ignorance» of the significance of the tattoo, which she described as «appalling.»

Genevieve McDonald places a bait bag in a lobster trap while fishing off the coast of Stonington, Maine, on Sept. 5, 2015. (Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images)

The woman who made allegations of physical violence against Platner, Lyndsey Fifield, stood in solidarity with McDonald after the piece was published on Monday night.

«Last year, I watched a woman sacrifice her career to stand on principle and warn the public about a dangerous man. Genevieve has been relentlessly attacked — but she kept her honor and her soul. She has inspired me to stay strong through this storm.»

Among other revelations in the op/ed, McDonald said the campaign offered her a severance package of $15,000 contingent upon signing a non-disclosure agreement, which she refused.

TOP OFF-THE-WALL REDDIT POSTS HAUNTING GRAHAM PLATNER’S MAINE SENATE BID

McDonald conveyed that she wanted to believe Platner’s narrative of redemption — the candidate often touts himself as a man with a troubled past who has since straightened up — but she felt the overwhelming scandals were too much for her to continue working on the campaign.

She also used the platform in the Post to take a dig at Platner, who has pitched himself as a working-class Mainer, humble oyster farmer and small-town harbor master.

«I realized the campaign had not been honest with me,» McDonald wrote. «As someone from a real working-class background, I knew this would undermine his cross-party appeal.»

PLATNER’S ‘LIVING ON THE SEA’ CLAIM DISMANTLED BY CRITICS AS FINANCIAL DOCS PAINT A DIFFERENT PICTURE

That narrative has recently fallen apart as his campaign came under fire from multiple angles.

Platner’s mother, who owns a restaurant, is listed as the only customer of his oyster farming business on its financial disclosers. He farms off a private island owned by the family of his business partner, and his father gave him a $200,000 loan to purchase a home.

Senatorial candidate Graham Platner speaks at a town hall at the Leavitt Theater in Ogunquit, Maine, on Oct. 22, 2025. (Sophie Park/Getty Images)

«I want better for my daughters, and for the people of Maine,» McDonald wrote. «Democrats are being sold a narrative that Platner is the only choice for the race against Republican Sen. Susan Collins. Maine voters don’t have to accept that.»

There are two other Democratic candidates on the ballot in Tuesday’s race, Gov. Janet Mills and consultant David Costello.

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Mills was Platner’s main challenger, but withdrew from the race due to her campaign’s lack of funds on hand. Her withdrawal, however, came after the ballots were already printed — so her name will still appear as an option for voters.

«The answer to a broken political culture is not to accept it,» McDonald concluded. «Demand better from those entrusted with power or seeking it.»

«Enough is enough.»

Senate Republicans have struggled to move the ball on President Donald Trump’s voter ID and citizenship verification bill, but a late-night vote in the upper chamber breathed some life into an issue once thought dead. 

During the Senate’s marathon «vote-a-rama» to advance the GOP’s $70 billion immigration enforcement package, Republicans tried twice to attach the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act to the massive bill. 

They failed both times, with a cohort of Republicans joining Senate Democrats to stymie the effort, which was destined to fail either way given that the amendments from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Mike Lee, R-Utah, had to break through the filibuster. 

REPUBLICANS FAIL TO ATTACH SAVE AMERICA ACT TO PARTY-LINE FUNDING PACKAGE

Graham’s attempt was to attach the modified version of the SAVE America Act, which included several policy additions, like barring men in women’s sports, that Trump demanded months ago.

Four Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., voted against it. Their defections prevented the bill from even getting 50 votes, a prerequisite for success if Republicans were to launch a talking filibuster. 

But Lee’s attempt did hit 50 votes, with Collins flipping her vote to support the original version of the SAVE America Act. 

Lee cheered the moment on X shortly after as the vote-a-rama still raged and noted that, with Vice President JD Vance serving as a possible 51st vote, the SAVE America Act could pass.

WATCH: HAWLEY FUMES AFTER 4 GOP SENATORS HELP SINK TRUMP-BACKED VOTER ID LAW

«That means that but for the Zombie Filibuster, the House-passed SAVE America Act would now be on its way to the White House for President Trump’s signature,» Lee said. 

The moment was a big victory for the legislation, which thus far has wallowed in the Senate for months.

Conservatives like Lee have pushed Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., to launch a talking filibuster to grind down Senate Democrats and pass the legislation at a simple majority threshold.

SEN LEE DARES DEMOCRATS TO REVIVE TALKING FILIBUSTER OVER SAVE ACT, SLAMMING CRITICISM AS ‘PARANOID FANTASY’

Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, has been leading the effort for the Senate to take up the SAVE America Act, which would federally require voter ID nationwide. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

But Thune hasn’t pulled the trigger out of concern that Republicans wouldn’t stay together to bat down a deluge of Democratic amendments that could substantially change the legislation or target other elements of Trump’s agenda. 

Senate Republicans did launch a quasi-floor takeover to debate the SAVE America Act in March, but the steam behind that push has since fallen off substantially. 

The other option for Republicans would be to nuke the filibuster, something Trump has demanded they do sporadically throughout his second term.

Again, it’s an issue that Republicans aren’t unified on, and one that several fear could haunt them if and when Democrats regain control of the upper chamber. 

Trump has also shifted his ire to the Senate rules referee, Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth Macdonough, who ruled that the SAVE America Act didn’t pass muster to be a part of the immigration package at a 50-vote threshold. He’s called on Thune to fire her a handful of times in recent months. 

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«We have every right to change her, and should do so, IMMEDIATELY,» Trump said on Truth Social. «As long as she’s there, we will never get our desperately needed, SAVE AMERICA ACT, approved, and put into full force and effect!»

But, like the talking filibuster or outright nuking of the filibuster, it’s a move Thune isn’t in a hurry to make. 

«That’s not a new request, as you all know, and as is typically the case, the parliamentarian, the rulings break both ways,» Thune said. «And, you know, we lose a few, we win a few, but that’s been true when Democrats have been in the majority, too.»