Although it won’t become official until this weekend, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson is poised to become the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate. With control of the upper chamber hanging in the balance, his past is certain to face intense scrutiny in the weeks ahead. Among the issues likely to draw attention are his past political alliances, electoral setbacks, and public persona.
According to Jackson’s campaign website, the fifth-generation logger from Allagash, is “ready to flip Maine’s Senate seat and unseat [Republican Sen.] Susan Collins once and for all.”
The site boasts that he’s “proven he can win — by 20 points — in a district carried by both Susan Collins and Donald Trump.” That may well be, but he just finished third in last month’s Democratic gubernatorial primary. What does that say about his statewide appeal?
The progressive Jackson was among disgraced former Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner’s most enthusiastic supporters. Like Platner, Jackson backs universal health care, federal abortion rights, abolishing ICE, ending the so-called “genocide in Gaza,” and cutting off U.S. aid to Israel.
However, when rape allegations against Platner surfaced several weeks ago, Jackson called on him to withdraw from the race.
Jackson has served in public office for several decades. The Wall Street Journal reported that he began his political career as a Republican:
[Jackson] first got involved in politics in 1998 when he led a blockade along the U.S.-Canadian border to protest landowners hiring lower-wage Canadian contract workers over American loggers. Jackson’s home area has supported President Trump in the past three presidential elections….He ran as a Republican for a state House of Representatives seat in 2000, losing the race to a Democrat. He was elected to the state House representing northern Aroostook County two years later as an independent and then became a Democrat in 2004, winning re-election to his House seat.Jackson was elected to the Maine Senate in 2008 and served through 2014, when he unsuccessfully ran for Congress, losing in a Democratic primary to Emily Cain. He won [back] his state Senate seat in 2016 and served as Senate president during his final six years in office through 2024.
Maine Democrats will almost certainly unite behind Jackson. Whether he can broaden his appeal beyond the party’s base, however, is another question, particularly among the swing voters who have grown accustomed to backing Collins.
Jackson is known for his fiery demeanor and confrontational style, particularly during his tenure as Maine’s Senate president. His frequent clashes with fellow lawmakers were widely reported during his gubernatorial campaign.
According to The Hill:
He’s been accused of verbally berating Rachel Talbot Ross, who served as House Speaker, during his time as Senate President….Jackson was also involved in an intense discussion with former state Sen. Heather Sanborn (D) over legislation geared towards reducing prescription drug costs. He apparently threw a water bottle at one point in the argument.“He was an inch from her nose, screaming and hollering and haranguing her,” one of Jackson’s former legislative colleagues who was in the room told The Washington Post.“It was pretty intense. I haven’t seen anything like that before or since,” the person added….Another person describing recorded meetings with Jackson told CNN, “It felt like he was using his body and his voice to make people fearful.”“I was in a room multiple times where he escalated the situation with both the intent and natural ability to really intimidate using his physical presence,” the person added.
Beyond Jackson’s combative temperament, The Guardian cited concerns about his “public speaking style and whether he could match the commanding presence that helped Platner build a statewide following for his populist platform.”
In the clip below posted by The Maine Wire, a conservative media outlet, Jackson tells supporters “we’re going to do something ‘to get rid of’ people that support” ICE.
Shortly afterward, the reporter said his tires had been slashed.
So far, only one public poll has tested this race. A University of New Hampshire survey of 1178 likely voters conducted July 15–20 found Jackson leading Collins by three points, 49% to 46%.
It’s worth noting, however, that UNH’s polling in the previous Collins-Platner matchup consistently stood apart from other public surveys. In earlier iterations, the university showed Platner leading Collins by 11 points and then by 9 points — results that proved to be outliers.
Politico noted that “Collins has defeated well-funded Democrats of all stripes since she was first elected in 1996, and currently has an $11 million war chest in reserves.”
With the Democratic nomination effectively secured, Jackson now shifts from winning over his party to making his case to the broader Maine electorate. He enters the general election with limited time to introduce himself to voters outside his political base while facing a four-term incumbent with deep statewide name recognition, a sizable campaign war chest, and a long history of surviving competitive challenges. How Jackson navigates that compressed timeline will determine whether Democrats can put Collins’ seat in play this November.
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