Maine Democrats pick Troy Jackson to challenge Sen. Susan Collins

By: Mary Ellen McIntire

Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson greets delegates at the nominating convention in Bangor after becoming the new Democratic nominee to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

BANGOR, Maine – With just over 100 days to go until the midterm elections, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson officially clinched the Democratic nomination for Senate at a party convention here Saturday, setting up a marquee fall matchup against longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Jackson will replace Graham Platner, who withdrew as the nominee just over two weeks ago after an allegation of sexual assault, which he denies.

“This process came together faster than any of us expected,” Jackson said in his victory speech before the gathered delegates and party officials at the Cross Insurance Center. “But this is important. The movement represented in this room did not just begin two weeks ago.”

Delegates picked Jackson over pharmaceutical executive Saundra Pelletier by a vote of 566-5 during a roughly two-and-a-half hour party convention that also served as a fall campaign kickoff for the state’s Democratic faithful.

“Power is never just given to working people. We have to band together and take it,” Jackson said earlier Saturday during his nominating address. “When the people in power refuse to listen, well, you have to organize. You have to stand together in solidarity together.”

“That’s how we took on the companies exploiting Maine loggers, and it’s how we’re going to take on Susan Collins,” he said.

Jackson speaks during the nominating convention in Bangor, Maine, on Saturday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

Jackson’s pick wraps up a chaotic few weeks for Maine Democrats, who had to convene Saturday’s convention to pick a new nominee ahead of a Monday deadline. They’ve been seeking to move on from Platner, who easily defeated Gov. Janet Mills in a primary last month with a populist message that resonated with Democratic voters despite a series of negative headlines that dogged his nearly yearlong campaign.

Jackson, who unsuccessfully ran for governor this year, came into the convention as the prohibitive favorite after securing the support of a vast majority of delegates elected across the state’s counties last weekend to serve at the convention.

Eve Breedlove, a young delegate from Penobscot County, said she’d supported Jackson in the gubernatorial race because of his support for progressive policies, which she said were similar to what Platner had campaigned on.

“People still had that momentum behind him, and just with all of this happening, it’s unprecedented,” she said. “But in a way, I’m only 20 years old, so everything that’s ever happened in my life is very unprecedented.”

Now, Democrats are looking ahead to November, when ousting Collins, the only Senate Republican to represent a seat carried by Kamala Harris in 2024, will be critical to their chances of flipping the chamber. Democratic delegates — many of whom said they’d known Jackson for years — called the new nominee an authentic candidate who would be a strong challenger to Collins, who is seeking a sixth term in the blue-leaning state.

“It’s going to be tough, but he’s got a real passionate support base,” one delegate said.