Troy Jackson wins Democratic Maine Senate nomination, will face Susan Collins in general
Troy Jackson is now the Democrats’ nominee for a Senate seat in Maine after being officially chosen by delegates on Saturday. In the general election, he will face incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in an important race for Democrats as they attempt to gain control of the Senate.
“Thank you, Maine. Solidarity forever,” Jackson posted on X Saturday.
Jackson replaces Graham Platner as the nominee after the latter suspended his campaign when a woman he used to date, Jenny Racicot, told Politico he sexually assaulted her. In a video announcing his exit from the race, Platner denied the allegation and blamed the “political establishment” for forcing him from the race.
Platner ending his campaign made it so Maine Democratic Party leaders only had a little under three weeks, per state law, to choose another nominee. They did so in county meetings, electing delegates to Saturday’s convention, where hundreds of Democratic delegates from Maine picked Jackson.
Jackson’s only opponent, Saundra Pelletier, received five votes, while he nabbed 566, Maine Public Radio reported. Two other Democratic contenders, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and Nirav Shah, a former public health official, dropped out of the race last week.
Jackson’s views
Jackson, a logger, grew up in Aroostook County, describing himself as “a poor kid in a town full of poor kids” on his campaign website. He comes from a long line of loggers.
He served for two decades in the state legislature, spending six of them as president. While he first ran for office as a Republican, The Washington Post reported, he went on to become an independent, then came to the Democratic Party in 2004.
Some of his priorities, if elected, according to his website, are passing Medicare for all, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, overturning the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and ending tax funding for Israel’s military, which he has said is committing genocide in Gaza.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
