Maine Democrats Senate nominee vote puts Troy Jackson in front
Maine Democrats are meeting to replace Graham Platner on the Senate ballot, with Troy Jackson widely expected to win the nomination.
By Deshawn Carter · Sports Writer
3 min read
Maine Democrats are meeting Saturday to choose a new U.S. Senate nominee after Graham Platner left the race, and former state Senate President Troy Jackson enters the convention with the numbers firmly on his side.
CBS News reported that Jackson has informally secured support from a majority of the roughly 500 delegates who will decide the nomination. Those delegates were chosen after county-level nomination meetings narrowed what had once been a field of about a dozen Democrats.
The winner will replace Platner on the November ballot against Republican Sen. Susan Collins, one of the party’s top targets in Maine.
Who is Troy Jackson?
Jackson, 58, is a fifth-generation logger who served as Maine Senate president from 2018 to 2024, according to CBS News. He previously represented northern Maine in the state House.
His political path has crossed party lines. CBS News reported that Jackson was once a Republican, ran his first state House race as a Republican, won election to the state House as an independent in 2002 and later became a Democrat.
Before entering the Senate race, Jackson ran for governor with support from Platner and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. He finished third in the Democratic gubernatorial primary in June.
Jackson is generally aligned with Sanders and worked on Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, CBS News reported. He backs progressive policies.
How will Maine Democrats pick the Senate nominee?
Delegates from Maine’s 16 counties are casting votes at the nominating convention. CBS News reported that delegates elected on Jackson-backed slates are not legally required to vote for him, but they are widely expected to do so.
Jackson’s position pushed other prominent contenders out of the race. Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and Nirav Shah, the former director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, bowed out and urged Democrats to unite behind the goal of defeating Collins, according to CBS News.
David Costello and Saundra Pelletier, both lesser-known candidates, are still expected to appear on the convention ballot. Dan Kleban, a co-founder of Maine Beer Company, also qualified for the ballot, but CBS News reported that he endorsed Jackson and asked to withdraw.
Devon Murphy-Anderson, executive director of the Maine Democratic Party, said in a statement that the party looked forward to hearing from candidates and bringing Democrats across Maine together to choose “the strongest nominee to defeat Susan Collins.”
Why is Maine replacing Graham Platner?
Platner dropped out after a sexual assault allegation, according to CBS News. No further details about the allegation or Platner’s response were included in the report.
His exit triggered a fast replacement process under Maine election law. CBS News reported that after Platner won the nomination in June, state law required a nominee to withdraw by 5 p.m. on the second Monday in July to be replaced on the ballot, after which the party had two weeks to choose a new nominee.
Maine Democrats chose a convention format to include delegates from across the state and scheduled it just before the July 27 deadline.
This story draws on original reporting from CBS News.