Troy Jackson – a logger, longtime legislator and former president of the Maine senate – is now poised to become the Democratic nominee in Maine’s US Senate race. His rise comes after the party’s previous nominee, Graham Platner, abruptly ended his campaign earlier this month following allegations of sexual assault from a former partner.
Platner’s withdrawal set off a frantic scramble inside the Maine Democratic party. Several contenders filed paperwork to be considered at a 25 July special convention of 601 delegates tasked with selecting a new nominee. But over the weekend, Jackson’s serious challengers dropped out one after another, clearing a swift and unobstructed path for him. Jackson, who lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary earlier this year, is now the presumptive choice.
Among those who ended their bids was Jordan Wood, a former congressional staffer who ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for Maine’s second district. Two other candidates who also fell short in this year’s gubernatorial primary – former Maine CDC director Nirav Shah and current secretary of state Shenna Bellows – likewise ended their campaigns. Dan Kleban, founder of Maine Beer Company, who briefly ran in the Senate primary against Platner before withdrawing months ago, also announced he would not stay in the race.
Wood, Shah and Kleban have all endorsed Jackson, stressing the stakes of flipping the seat held for nearly three decades by Republican Susan Collins – the only GOP senator running for re-election in a state Kamala Harris carried in 2024.
“This fight is bigger than any one person,” Wood said in a social media video. “There is too much at stake in our country, our democracy – our state is depending on us.”
Maine is crucial to Democrats’ effort to net the four seats required to retake control of the Senate in November’s midterms.
Over the weekend, all 16 counties elected 500 delegates who will vote in Bangor on Saturday, with the remaining 101 delegates will come from the state party’s central committee.
Jackson, now the progressive frontrunner, once campaigned alongside Platner and received his endorsement during his gubernatorial run, where he finished third, which raised concerns that Jackson might be tainted in the breakneck process to replace the disgraced former nominee. Questions have also lingered about Jackson’s public speaking style and whether he could match the commanding presence that helped Platner build a statewide following for his populist platform.
But Jackson has consolidated support from major unions, numerous state Democrats and national progressive groups – he also appears to have locked down broad backing from the newly selected delegates. While their commitments are not legally binding, a majority of the 601 delegates have now pledged to vote for him, according to Jackson’s campaign.
“Those delegates were not handed to us. You know, we earned them because hundreds and hundreds of people organized their neighbors, made the calls, had the conversations,” Jackson said in Sanford.
On Sunday, Jackson also told Politico it was “incredible” to see people “really concerned about making sure this momentum, this movement continues” as it became clear he would emerge as the presumptive nominee. His campaign said Monday it was turning its “full focus” to defeating Collins after the weekend’s surge of delegate support.
State Democrats have until 27 July to formally choose Platner’s replacement for the general election ballot.
Jackson, 58, was first elected to the legislature in 2002 and became senate president in 2018. He left office in 2024 due to term limits.
