WASHINGTON — A top adviser to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani pushed hard for Maine Democrat Graham Platner in the 2026 Senate race with an eye on a Democratic presidential ticket by 2032, sources told The Post.
Morris Katz hyped up Platner as a Bernie Sanders successor who could captivate the progressive base of the Democratic Party — much better than Squad darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who he saw as a losing nominee, two Democratic sources revealed.
One reason Katz favored Platner’s chances over AOC was that he’s a man, sources said.
Katz had worked for around 10 months with other left-wing operatives to pluck Platner, the untested Marine veteran-turned-oyster farmer, from obscurity and put him on a path to defeating incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins in Maine in November.
“‘The guy is so f–king talented,’” Katz boasted around the time of Platner’s campaign launch in August 2025, the source noted, suggesting that the sky was the limit given the slick ads he expected to produce and fundraising he would be able to bring in as a result.
But the 27-year-old remained “stubborn in his support for Platner” — even as rape accusations from an ex-girlfriend forced state and national Democratic party leaders to withdraw support — because he viewed the political outsider as “his presidential ticket,” said the source familiar with campaign discussions.
“You make this guy senator, and then you make this guy president because, in large part, Morris and like this whole sector of the left do not believe that AOC can win because she’s a woman,” this person said, pointing to 2032 as likely the most favorable cycle for Platner to make a White House run.
Katz in a statement to The Post called the comments “blatant and complete falsehoods.” The New York Times first reported on him expressing Platner’s presidential ambitions being possible as soon as 2028.
Other Democratic insiders have been privately expressing concerns that the 36-year-old Bronx and Queens congresswoman is woefully out of her depth when it comes to foreign policy — and progressives believe their party can’t afford another presidential loss.
For a time, Platner was able to brush off scandals that would’ve sunk other candidates in past cycles.
Those included reports of a tattoo Platner got of a Nazi SS, or Schutzstaffel, symbol, offensive remarks on social media about a Purple Heart veteran as well as sex assault victims, and a prior allegation of physical abuse from a woman he dated who went on to work in Republican circles.
“Through all of this, you see the campaign and Morris doubling down — remember his tweet about, you know, ‘Best not miss’ and all this other stuff, even though they knew all these things, right?” a second Democratic source said.
“This should have been over when the guy had a Nazi tattoo. It wasn’t,” the first Dem source concluded. “Then it should have been over when multiple women came out, and there were Reddit posts excusing all of this horrible behavior, not when the guy was, like, 20-years-old but when he was 30.”
Democratic power brokers eventually delivered Katz and those allies a final blow on Wednesday when Platner abandoned his bid to unseat Collins of Maine, decrying “corporate media” and the “political establishment” for derailing his campaign.
“We’re not doing it because of the allegations,” Platner told supporters in a video message posted on X. “We’re doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.”
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee had pledged Monday not to invest in the race after ex-girlfriend Jenny Racicot came forward to Politico and CNN with an accusation that Platner had entered her home without permission and raped her in 2021.
The Maine Senate hopeful denied Racicot’s claims as well as allegations of physical abuse and other hateful conduct toward women as “categorically false and politically motivated,” when first reported by The Times last month.
Three days after it was published, Katz had tweeted in response to a report of his political consulting firm’s growing influence: “Best not miss.”
But on Tuesday, Mamdani also called on Platner to exit the Senate race, as Katz flew up to Maine to determine with other campaign aides how the Democrat could “remain a voice” in the contest given the broad base of support that powered him through the state’s June primary.
“Graham was kind of their new shiny object because they just think that they need this burly, white-working class man to represent the politics of the left and be Bernie’s successor,” the first Democratic source noted, referencing the socialist Vermont senator who endorsed Platner.
Through the firm Fight Agency, Katz had advised Mamdani, who isn’t eligible for a presidential run, on his successful 2025 run for New York City mayor, but sources close to both camps were split about what Platner’s failure meant for the relationship.
One suggested that aides close to the mayor have expressed “frustration” and that some of Katz’s decisions in the Platner race may hurt Mamdani’s political brand.
Another dismissed the talk of a potential rift, pointing to Katz’s success in recent House Democratic primaries with several candidates who were also backed by Mamdani.
“Lots of folks at City Hall don’t like him [Katz],” this person said. “But I see no evidence the mayor is one of those folks. Just the opposite.”
The second Democratic source claimed that “Katz was in the doghouse” only briefly while the succession from Platner to another viable Senate candidate for the party works its way out.
Reps for Platner’s campaign and Ocasio-Cortez did not respond to requests for comment.
