Profile Text
Birth Name: Graham Cunningham Platner
Place of Birth: Blue Hill, Maine, U.S.
Date of Birth: September 1, 1984
Ethnicity: English, as well as Irish, Scottish, and German, more distant Dutch and Swiss-German
Graham Platner is an American political candidate, oyster farmer, and military veteran. He is the Democratic nominee for the 2026 Maine Senate election. He is usually considered a populist progressive.
Graham is the son of Leslie, who owns an upscale restaurant, and Bronson Platner, a lawyer. His grandfather was architect and interior designer Warren Platner. Graham was raised in Sullivan, on the Maine coast, near Acadia National Park, and in Ellsworth. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps, from 2003 to 2007, and the Maryland Army National Guard, from 2010 to 2011. He was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Graham is married to elementary and middle school art teacher Amy Gertner. Amy is of part Lebanese descent. Graham’s step-brother is Seth Frantzman, a senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post.
Graham’s patrilineal line can be traced to Hans Jacob Blattner, who was born, c. 1638, in Ermatingen, Thurgau, Switzerland, the son of Hans Jörg Blattner and Barbara Moergli.
Graham’s paternal grandfather was Joseph Warren Platner (the son of Warren Kelly Platner and Alice Darling Chapman). Joseph was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and produced a 1960s furniture collection known for its modernist style; he also designed prominent interiors in New York City, such as the headquarters for the Ford Foundation Building, and the Windows on the World restaurant on top of the World Trade Center. Warren had deep roots in upstate New York, including early German, Dutch, and English colonists. Graham’s great-grandfather Warren was born in Van Hornesville, Herkimer County, New York, the son of Bronson Platner and Alma Kelley/Kelly. Graham’s great-grandmother Alice was born in Elyria, Lorain, Ohio, the daughter of James Wood Chapman and Margaret A. Darling, who was from Warsaw, Wyoming, New York.
Graham’s paternal grandmother was Joan/Joyce Payne (the daughter of Kenneth Wilcox Payne and Ruth Austin Adams). Joan was born in Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio, and had considerable Colonial New England ancestry. Kenneth was born in Cleveland, the son of Seymour Caesar Payne, whose maternal grandparents were from the Isle of Man; and of Winona Wilcox. Graham’s great-grandmother Ruth was born in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, the daughter of Charles Austin Adams and Helen C. Crittenden, whose own parents were from Ontario, Canada. Helen’s father was born in Simcoe, to parents from Massachusetts, and Helen’s maternal grandparents were from England Inverness-shire, Scotland, respectively.
Graham’s maternal grandfather was Selden Holmes Harlow (the son of Ivan H. Harlow and Mable Evelyn Disston). Selden was born in Arlington, Middlesex, Massachusetts. Ivan was born in Norridgewock, Somerset, Maine, the son of Clarence Stevens Harlow and Dolly E. Holmes. He had deep roots in the state, going back to Colonial times. Graham’s great-grandmother Mable was born in Arlington, Middlesex, Massachusetts, the daughter of George Arni Disston, who was from Sackville, Westmorland, New Brunswick, Canada; and of Nellie Murray, who was from Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scotland.
Graham’s maternal grandmother was Helen Patten Cunningham (the daughter of James Archibald Cunningham and Helen Rowe Patten). Helen was born in Connecticut. James was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the son of John Edward Cunningham, whose parents were Irish; and of Mary Anne Kennedy, who was of Scottish descent, including a paternal grandmother born in Ross and Cromarty. Graham’s great-grandmother Helen was born in Boston, Suffolk, Massachusetts. Her father, Henry Sumner Patten, had deep roots in Maine. Her mother, Graham’s great-great-grandmother Honora Ann Dunn, was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada, of Irish descent, with a father born in Ireland, and a maternal grandfather born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland.
Sources: Genealogy of Graham Platner – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Graham’s paternal grandfather, Joseph Warren Platner – https://www.findagrave.com