Troy Jackson
Maine's presumptive Democratic nominee for Senate
I know I know, I told you in every previous blog post that Maine’s Democratic Senate nominee would not be chosen until the convention on July 25th, but sometimes politics are weird. I’m here to break it down as always.
A Nominee? Before Nomination Day?
Yes and no. Technically, Troy Jackson hasn’t officially been picked to be the party nominee, but my title wasn’t clickbait, he is definitely the presumptive nominee, and something strange would need to happen for this to change in 5 days.
Let me sum up the process. After Graham Platner dropped his bid to become a Senator, the Maine Democratic Party announced that each individual Democratic party in each individual county across Maine would meet to elect delegates. These delegates will then attend a convention on July 25th and submit their votes for who they think should be the next Democratic nominee for Senate.
Though they have not voted yet in the convention, we already have plenty of evidence and clues to see who they will be voting for, which led to some of the major contenders drop their bids.
This past weekend, 500 delegate slots of the 601 who will meet to pick the new nominee were selected across many counties in Maine. Of the 500 selected this past weekend, more than 460 confirmed they will be supporting Troy Jackson, meaning he already holds a commanding portion of the individuals voting on 7/25. After this announcement, pretty much all of the other Democratic candidates dropped out of the race.
As I mentioned in a previous article, these were the individuals who threw their hats in the ring to become Maine’s next Democratic Nominee for Senate:
Nirav Shah announced he was ending his campaign on Sunday evening and endorsed Jackson along with Jordan Wood and Dan Kleban. Shenna Bellows also ended her bid, and Paige Loud ended her bid earlier in the weekend.
“Now it’s time for all of us to come together, build the broadest possible coalition, and defeat Susan Collins. Let’s get to work.” Jackson said on X shortly after Nirav Shah dropped his bid and endorsed him.1
At this point it’s a foregone conclusion, Troy Jackson is the new Democratic Nominee for Senate, and he will face Susan Collins in November.
Who is this Guy?
Born in Fort Kent and raised in Allagash, Troy Jackson served in the Maine State Senate from 2016 to 2024, and 2008 to 2014. He served as the Senate president and the majority leader from 2018 to 2024. During his time in the State Senate, he represented parts of northern Aroostook County (waaaayyy up north).
Jackson, in his political career, initially ran as a Republican, was first elected as an Independent, and then joined the Democratic party in 2004. Prior to his stint in the State Senate, he was elected as an Independent in 2002 to the Maine House of Representatives.
As his party allegiance evolved, so did his views. Initially a social conservative who was anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ, he has shifted his views and voted completely in support of both, gaining 100% scorecards from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund and EqualityMaine. Jackson’s platform has always centered around health care and worker’s rights. In 2016, as a superdelegate for the Democratic national primaries, Jackson used his vote to support Senator Bernie Sanders over Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Jackson’s platform has already attracted endorsements from Ro Khanna, the Maine Democratic Socialists of America, and political commentator Hasan Piker.
His Platform
Troy Jackson is framing his campaign around a pro-worker, anti-billionaire agenda that seeks to make Maine more affordable for the working class. He is supportive of federally codifying the right to abortion, Medicare for all, banning conversion therapy for LGBTQ+ individuals, and strengthening anti-discrimination laws. He is opposed to the Iran war and is supportive of aid to Ukraine.
Jackson is supportive of a full abolishing and dismantlement of ICE and has been very critical of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, calling it a genocide, and has stated that he would not support providing additional military aid to Israel.
What Does this Campaign Mean?
To Mainers, Jackson is an individual who can rise to the movement supported by Graham Platner before his implosion as a candidate. Jackson has the ability to ride the upswell of political disillusionment across the state, and stoke the flames of popular discontent for billionaires, the Israeli government, and rising costs across Maine. Though not the best public speaker in the world, Jackson offers an alternative to Platner that holds the same platform, has deep political experience in the State, a track record of listening to constituents, and a political base with rural Maine working-class voters. He has been working at this movement far longer than Platner and is a well-known name across the state. Polling has put Jackson and Collins in a dead heat, but this will be worth watching as we continue the march towards November.
As always, political developments in this year’s Senate races can be tracked on my website.
Go TROY!!