Jackson Captures Maine Democratic Senate Nod, Faces Challenges Beyond Campaign
He replaces scandal-scarred former nominee Graham Platner.
Troy Jackson, former Maine Senate president, secured a near-unanimous win at a special state Democratic Party convention Saturday in Bangor, replacing disgraced nominee Graham Platner on the November ballot against Republican Senator Susan Collins.
Mr. Jackson, who has styled himself in the same populist mold Mr. Platner campaigned on, defeated biotech executive Saundra Pelletier in a 566-5 delegate vote. His ascent came 15 days after Mr. Platner formally withdrew July 10, following a woman’s allegation he raped her in 2021, which he denies.
That exit triggered a hurried process many Democrats criticized for taking the form of a nominating convention and not a special primary. By contrast, Republicans in South Carolina will vote in a special primary August 11 for a nominee to take the November ballot spot of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, whose July 11 death came one day after Mr. Platner formally withdrew from his race.
“We’re not from the left. We’re not from the right. We’re from the bottom, and we’re rising,” Mr. Jackson posted on social media, echoing his address to delegates. “In November, we will defeat Susan Collins.”
The Republican’s campaign fired back with a social media barrage, saying, “Today, in a process concocted by the Maine Democratic Party establishment, a 24-year Augusta insider was appointed to run for the Senate by fewer than three-tenths of one percent of its primary voters.”
It said, “Troy Jackson will attempt to sell Mainers a multi-trillion dollar bill of goods based on rhetoric that will make everything sound free, but in reality would be paid for by middle and lower income workers.”
Blasts from his GOP opponent — who can draw on a $115 million ad buy versus $57 million for Democrats according to a Bangor Daily News report — may not be Mr. Jackson’s only challenge.
Maine state Represenative James Lee White, a Republican from Guilford, has asked Maine’s Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to “investigate” the legal eligibility of Mr. Jackson to run at all.
Citing a provision in state law, Mr. White said the Democrat “filed as a candidate for Governor, appeared on the June primary ballot, and was defeated by Maine voters. He now seeks to become the Democratic nominee for an entirely different statewide office through the vacancy process. That sequence raises substantial questions as to whether he is legally a ‘qualified person’ under Maine law.”
George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley says Mr. White’s argument “would be a tough case to make.” In a blog post, Mr. Turley noted Ms. Bellows ran unsuccessfully for governor and later sought the replacement Senate nomination after Mr. Platner withdrew and should recuse herself from judging Mr. Jackson’s case.
If she doesn’t, Mr. Turley said, Ms. Bellows would “have to adopt a distinctly more narrow approach” to this ballot challenge than she did in 2024 when she ruled Donald Trump was disqualified from the Maine ballot because of his alleged involvement in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, which she deemed an “insurrection.” The professor noted, “A judge in Maine quickly stopped her.”
Mr. Jackson may face other headwinds. The Maine Wire news website cataloged a list of controversies involving him, including an unproven allegation concerning a mortgage transaction.
And on Friday at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, Mr. Trump referenced the new nominee, though not by name.
The president said Mr. Jackson, the “replacement, he throws bottles at women. This guy throws bottles. This guy is another lunatic, by the way.”
Mr. Trump’s comment was apparently a reference to what CNN called the “water bottle incident,” in which Mr. Jackson threw a plastic water bottle during a heated 2021 meeting. An unnamed female lawmaker believed it was directed at her, which his campaign disputed. The episode was an example of “angry outbursts” attributed to the former logger who now fronts the Maine Senate race for Democrats.
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