Maine U.S. Senate candidate Graham Platner (D) cancelled an appearance on MS NOW after news broke of a new scandal involving sexually explicit texts, Mediaite reports.

“The wife of Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner said she was ‘deeply hurt’ after details of her husband’s extramarital sexting became public Saturday, accusing a former campaign official and confidante of betraying her trust,” CNN reports.

“In Alaska this election season, the biggest supporters of Dan Sullivan could be the biggest antagonists of Dan Sullivan,” the New York Times reports.

“The field of contenders challenging Senator Dan S. Sullivan, a Republican who is up for re-election, has grown in recent days with a rather befuddling addition: Dan J. Sullivan, a former educator of no known relation, has entered the race.”

“His arrival could cause a headache for Senator Sullivan, who is working to fend off a challenge from former Representative Mary Peltola, a well-funded and independent-minded Democrat who says she is running on ‘fish, family and freedom.’”

New York Post: “Brianna Menard, 30, describes herself as a ‘committed vegan,’ yoga buff and cat mom who likes ‘dancing the night away’ at local gay bar Cheer Up Charlies in Austin, according her bio at a local food coop, where she serves on the board.”

The final Emerson College/Inside California Politics survey of the California governor’s race finds Xavier Becerra leading the field at 28%, followed closely by Tom Steyer at 22% and Steve Hilton at 21%.

When undecided voters are asked to decide who they would support, Becerra’s support remains at 28%, and Hilton and Steyer both receive 23%.

The top two finishers will face off in the general election.

“Days after Graham Platner announced his Maine Senate bid, his wife informed the campaign about a potential political problem she had previously discovered on the oyster farmer’s phone: sexually explicit texts with several women,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Amy Gertner, who married Platner in 2024, told the campaign about messages she had found early in their marriage in the spring of 2025. In late August, as some aides were conducting opposition research on their own candidate, Gertner disclosed the texts to a campaign aide to make sure they didn’t pose a risk to her husband’s nascent campaign.”

“Aides ultimately decided the texts were a private matter that was being handled by the couple in marriage counseling.”

New York Times: “It was the kind of revelation with the potential to damage the political newcomer just as his campaign to unseat Senator Susan Collins, a Republican, was beginning to resonate with voters, especially in a state where female voters make up a large share of the electorate.”

Axios: “Republicans came away from 2024 convinced they had won more than an election — they had broken through on culture, turning Democrats’ progressive language and identity politics into symbols of elite detachment.”

“The durability of that culture-war coup is now an open question, as the GOP tries to redeploy the same playbook in a far more hostile midterm environment.”