Maine oyster farmer and U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner continues to see shakeups in his campaign staff, as his finance director resigned Friday over what he described as a difference in standards.Ronald Holmes III announced in a LinkedIn post that he resigned as national finance director for the “Graham for Maine” campaign effective immediately.”I joined this campaign because I believed in building something different — a campaign of fresh energy, integrity, and reform-minded thinking in a political system that often resists exactly those things. Somewhere along the way, I began to feel that my professional standards as a campaign professional no longer fully aligned with those of the campaign,” Holmes said in the post. “I’m proud of the people who showed up with good hearts and clear purpose and the lessons that came with the work.”Holmes went on to say that he wished the Platner campaign and the people of Maine well.In a statement shared with Maine’s Total Coverage, a spokesperson for the Platner campaign said they appreciated Holmes’ efforts, as he helped the campaign reach out to “big-dollar donors.” But the campaign spokesperson went on to say that Platner’s fundraising success has largely come from “small-dollar donors.””Nearly 90% of what we’ve raised has come from small-dollar donations and online donors, which has been and is continued to be run by our digital fundraising director,” the spokesperson said in their statement.According to his LinkedIn page, Holmes joined the Democratic candidate’s team in August after serving as the finance director for Michigan gubernatorial candidate Chris Swanson for six months.Holmes is the third person to resign from Platner’s campaign staff within the past two weeks.The Platner campaign’s former political director, former Maine Rep. Genevieve McDonald, resigned on Oct. 17 over controversial comments Platner had made in the past on the social media platform Reddit.Some of Platner’s past Reddit posts, which have since been deleted, criticize police and rural white Americans. He addressed those posts with Maine’s Total Coverage, but more posts were uncovered in which he dismissed military sexual assaults and questioned Black patrons’ gratuity habits.Kevin Brown, who served as Platner’s campaign manager for only a week, stepped down on Tuesday because he learned he and his wife were going to have a baby just three days after he started managing the campaign on Oct. 21.Brown called Platner “a dear friend” and made no reference in his resignation statement to the recent controversy surrounding Platner that prompted McDonald to resign.Just days after McDonald’s resignation, Platner addressed a Nazi-linked tattoo he got nearly 20 years ago while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.Platner’s team provided video to “Pod Save America,” a political podcast hosted by former aides to former President Barack Obama, which showed Platner had a skull-and-crossbones tattoo on his chest that appears to resemble “Totenkopf,” German for “death’s head.”According to the Anti-Defamation League, Adolf Hitler’s paramilitary organization Schutzstaffel (SS) adopted a particular Totenkopf image as a symbol during the Nazi era. The ADL said it became a symbol of the SS branch responsible for guarding the concentration camps, and that many members of that branch became the core of an SS division that engaged in a number of war crimes during World War II.Platner said he got the tattoo in 2007 during his third deployment with the Marines. According to Platner, he and several other machine gun squad leaders got the same skull-and-crossbones tattoo while they were “very inebriated” on liberty in Split, Croatia.Years later, Platner joined the Army National Guard and got screened at a Military Entrance Processing Station, a process that determined he met the physical, mental and moral standards set by the Army. Army policy prohibits soldiers from having tattoo designs that contain any offensive, extremist or hateful words or images. Company commanders perform annual inspections of tattoos so that the tattoos remain within Army regulations. Soldiers who have tattoos that do not meet the Army’s restrictions are counseled, and then have 15 days to explain to commanders whether they will have the tattoos removed or altered. Soldiers who do not comply face potential separation.Platner also said he received a full screening when he went to work for the State Department as a contractor. He was cleared for a security detail for the ambassador to Afghanistan in 2018.In a statement shared with Maine’s Total Coverage on Oct. 22, Platner said he did not realize his tattoo resembled a Nazi symbol until he started hearing from reporters and Washington insiders.”I absolutely would not have gone through life having this on my chest if I knew that – and to insinuate that I did is disgusting. I already had the tattoo covered with a new design,” Platner said in the statement.Platner released a video on his social media pages later on Oct. 22. In the video, Platner showed off the new chest tattoo he got to cover up the Nazi-linked tattoo.In addition to being an oyster farmer, Platner is the town of Sullivan’s harbormaster and serves as chair of the Sullivan Select Board. He has received an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats.He is one of nearly a dozen candidates looking to unseat U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who intends to seek a sixth term. Other Democrats in the Senate race include Gov. Janet Mills, Jordan Wood, Natasha Alcala, Tucker Favreau, David Costello and Andrea LaFlamme. Two former Democratic candidates, Dan Kleban and Daira Smith-Rodriguez, have since dropped out of the race and given their endorsement to Mills.
Maine oyster farmer and U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner continues to see shakeups in his campaign staff, as his finance director resigned Friday over what he described as a difference in standards.
Ronald Holmes III announced in a LinkedIn post that he resigned as national finance director for the “Graham for Maine” campaign effective immediately.
“I joined this campaign because I believed in building something different — a campaign of fresh energy, integrity, and reform-minded thinking in a political system that often resists exactly those things. Somewhere along the way, I began to feel that my professional standards as a campaign professional no longer fully aligned with those of the campaign,” Holmes said in the post. “I’m proud of the people who showed up with good hearts and clear purpose and the lessons that came with the work.”
Holmes went on to say that he wished the Platner campaign and the people of Maine well.
In a statement shared with Maine’s Total Coverage, a spokesperson for the Platner campaign said they appreciated Holmes’ efforts, as he helped the campaign reach out to “big-dollar donors.” But the campaign spokesperson went on to say that Platner’s fundraising success has largely come from “small-dollar donors.”
“Nearly 90% of what we’ve raised has come from small-dollar donations and online donors, which has been and is continued to be run by our digital fundraising director,” the spokesperson said in their statement.
According to his LinkedIn page, Holmes joined the Democratic candidate’s team in August after serving as the finance director for Michigan gubernatorial candidate Chris Swanson for six months.
Holmes is the third person to resign from Platner’s campaign staff within the past two weeks.
The Platner campaign’s former political director, former Maine Rep. Genevieve McDonald, resigned on Oct. 17 over controversial comments Platner had made in the past on the social media platform Reddit.
Some of Platner’s past Reddit posts, which have since been deleted, criticize police and rural white Americans. He addressed those posts with Maine’s Total Coverage, but more posts were uncovered in which he dismissed military sexual assaults and questioned Black patrons’ gratuity habits.
Kevin Brown, who served as Platner’s campaign manager for only a week, stepped down on Tuesday because he learned he and his wife were going to have a baby just three days after he started managing the campaign on Oct. 21.
Brown called Platner “a dear friend” and made no reference in his resignation statement to the recent controversy surrounding Platner that prompted McDonald to resign.
Just days after McDonald’s resignation, Platner addressed a Nazi-linked tattoo he got nearly 20 years ago while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Platner’s team provided video to “Pod Save America,” a political podcast hosted by former aides to former President Barack Obama, which showed Platner had a skull-and-crossbones tattoo on his chest that appears to resemble “Totenkopf,” German for “death’s head.”
According to the Anti-Defamation League, Adolf Hitler’s paramilitary organization Schutzstaffel (SS) adopted a particular Totenkopf image as a symbol during the Nazi era. The ADL said it became a symbol of the SS branch responsible for guarding the concentration camps, and that many members of that branch became the core of an SS division that engaged in a number of war crimes during World War II.
Platner said he got the tattoo in 2007 during his third deployment with the Marines. According to Platner, he and several other machine gun squad leaders got the same skull-and-crossbones tattoo while they were “very inebriated” on liberty in Split, Croatia.
Years later, Platner joined the Army National Guard and got screened at a Military Entrance Processing Station, a process that determined he met the physical, mental and moral standards set by the Army. Army policy prohibits soldiers from having tattoo designs that contain any offensive, extremist or hateful words or images. Company commanders perform annual inspections of tattoos so that the tattoos remain within Army regulations. Soldiers who have tattoos that do not meet the Army’s restrictions are counseled, and then have 15 days to explain to commanders whether they will have the tattoos removed or altered. Soldiers who do not comply face potential separation.
Platner also said he received a full screening when he went to work for the State Department as a contractor. He was cleared for a security detail for the ambassador to Afghanistan in 2018.
In a statement shared with Maine’s Total Coverage on Oct. 22, Platner said he did not realize his tattoo resembled a Nazi symbol until he started hearing from reporters and Washington insiders.
“I absolutely would not have gone through life having this on my chest if I knew that – and to insinuate that I did is disgusting. I already had the tattoo covered with a new design,” Platner said in the statement.
Platner released a video on his social media pages later on Oct. 22. In the video, Platner showed off the new chest tattoo he got to cover up the Nazi-linked tattoo.
In addition to being an oyster farmer, Platner is the town of Sullivan’s harbormaster and serves as chair of the Sullivan Select Board. He has received an endorsement from U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who caucuses with Democrats.
He is one of nearly a dozen candidates looking to unseat U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who intends to seek a sixth term. Other Democrats in the Senate race include Gov. Janet Mills, Jordan Wood, Natasha Alcala, Tucker Favreau, David Costello and Andrea LaFlamme. Two former Democratic candidates, Dan Kleban and Daira Smith-Rodriguez, have since dropped out of the race and given their endorsement to Mills.
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