Morris Katz helped orchestrate Zohran Mamdani’s historic victory and Graham Platner’s ultimately disastrous run for Senate. It’s quite a résumé  for a political consultant who is still in his 20s.
Platner’s implosion could prove particularly costly for Democrats. It may mean the difference between winning and losing a Senate majority. But before the rape accusation that ended his campaign, Platner had come out of nowhere to beat Janet Mills, the sitting governor of Maine, who was Chuck Schumer’s hand-picked candidate. The lessons to take from that campaign remain angrily contested. 
Katz, a senior adviser to Platner, has been central to many of the most attention-grabbing, populist campaigns in recent years: Besides Mamdani’s New York mayoral upset, he worked on John Fetterman’s 2022 Senate campaign and Dan Osborn’s 2024 independent Senate run in Nebraska. He has figured something out about this political moment. Along the way, he has become a controversial figure himself.
So what has he gotten right? And what has he learned from what he’s gotten wrong? 
This episode contains strong language.
Ask Me Anything: We’re going to be recording an “Ask Me Anything” episode soon. If you would like to submit a question, email ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com with the subject line “AMA.”
Mentioned:
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/04/us/politics/platner-maine-senate-girlfriends-relationships.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Several Women Who Dated Graham Platner Recall ‘Unsettling’ Behavior</a>” by Katie Glueck and Lisa Lerer
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/07/nyregion/dsa-economy-nyc.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How Economic Anxiety Is Driving the Democratic Socialists’ Surge</a>” by Emma Goldberg
“<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1976/09/26/archives/the-search-for-carter-carter.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The search for Carter</a>” by Norman Mailer
“<a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-mar-25-op-brownstein25-story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The warrior and the priest</a>” by Ronald Brownstein
Book Recommendations:
<a href="https://www.nyrb.com/products/life-and-fate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Life and Fate</a> by Vasily Grossman
<a href="https://milkweed.org/book/the-shame" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Shame</a> by Makenna Goodman
<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/811851/the-fourth-branch-by-daniel-squadron/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Fourth Branch</a> by Daniel Squadron
Thoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at <a href="mailto:ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com</a>.
You can find the transcript and more episodes of “The Ezra Klein Show” at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.html
This episode of “The Ezra Klein Show” was produced by Rollin Hu, Annie Galvin and Marie Cascione. Fact-checking by Michelle Harris, with Kate Sinclair, Mary Marge Locker and Julie Beer. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing by Johnny Simon and Isaac Jones. Our recording engineer is Johnny Simon. Cinematography by Kyle Kelley. Video editing by Dani Dillon, Julian Hackney and Jan Kobal. Our executive producer is Claire Gordon. The show’s production team also includes Kristin Lin, Emma Kehlbeck, Jack McCordick and Marina King. Original music by Pat McCusker. Audience strategy by Shannon Busta. The director of New York Times Opinion Shows is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Rebecca Shaid.
Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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