Troy Jackson nears Maine Democratic Senate nomination to face Collins

Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson is on an easy path to replace former candidate Graham Platner as the Democratic Senate candidate in a high-stakes showdown with longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

While two-day delegate elections were held in Maine’s 16 counties for the state Democratic Party nominating convention to be held next weekend, the majority of the 500 quotas to be won on Saturday and Sunday were won by delegates aligned with Jackson. After he withdrew from the race on Sunday, Jackson’s main rivals for the nomination also supported him.

While delegates on Jackson’s slate are not required to support him at next weekend’s convention in Bangor, Maine, he is now almost certain to secure the nomination and face off against Collins in a midterm election that is expected to be combative and expensive. This will be one of a dozen races across the country that will determine whether Democrats can win back the Senate majority. The GOP currently holds 53-47 of the chamber.

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Here are five things you need to know about Jackson, 58, a fifth-generation logger from Allagash, a sparsely populated town along the Canadian border at the northern tip of Maine.

1. He was once a Republican

Jackson first entered politics nearly three decades ago, protesting the entry of Canadian loggers entering the United States and being hired to replace loggers from Maine. Jackson was involved in preventing Canadian loggers from physically crossing the border into the United States

He ran for office as a Republican in 2000, but was first elected to the Maine House of Representatives as an independent two years later.

Jackson joined the Democratic Party in 2004.

He was elected to the state Senate in 2008 and became speaker of the chamber a decade later when Democrats won the majority.

Jackson now strongly supports abortion rights and gay marriage. But as late as 2010, it received a perfect rating from Maine Right to Life, a pro-life group. And in 2009, he voted against legalizing same-sex marriage in Maine.

Jackson attributed his conservative stance on key social issues to his Catholic upbringing in rural Maine.

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Former State Senator Troy Jackson, a Democrat from Maine, speaks at the Anti-Oligarchy event. Jackson is now a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. Senate. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“I voted for these things 15 years ago,” Jackson said. Last week’s MS NOW interview. “I’ve always been someone who believes that healthcare is a human right, and after a while it became clear to me that abortion and access to reproductive rights is a human right. This is healthcare. People deserve to have it. And when that came to me, I became a real advocate for that.”

Balancing his past votes against gay marriage and abortion rights, Jackson pointed to the Democratic Socialists of America, saying, “People in the DSA think I’m very progressive.”

2. orfor governor this year

Jackson last year launched a campaign for the Democratic nomination for governor in the race to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in the blue-leaning but competitive state.

Jackson, who ran on a platform of expanded health care and child care, ran for governor last fall against progressive champion Sen. Sen. of Vermont. Endorsed by Bernie Sanders.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., stands with Troy Jackson, left, and then-Senate candidate Graham Platner during the “Oligarchic Struggle” tour at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus on May 24, 2026 in Orono, Maine. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Jackson finished third in the Democratic primary for governor.

3. He worked with Platner in the primaries

Jackson and Platner appeared with Sanders at rallies last year and this spring.

And late in the gubernatorial campaign, Jackson was endorsed by Platner, who was then moving toward a Senate candidacy. Jackson also supported Platner.

Platner left the race earlier this month amid calls from top Democrats in Maine and across the country to immediately withdraw from the race following an explosive report alleging the rape of a woman he had previously dated. Platner denied the report but stepped aside.

4. Close to Platner on politics

While Jackson was among those who called on Platner to immediately end his bid following the rape allegation, he revealed that he was the best candidate to continue the fight for a progressive and populist agenda.

Like Platner, Jackson is running on a progressive and populist platform targeting working-class voters. He supports raising taxes on billionaires, a universal healthcare system known as “Medicare for All” that would eliminate U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and opposes military aid to Israel at a time when Democrats are increasingly divided over support for America’s longtime Middle East ally.

Then-Senate candidate Graham Platner and Troy Jackson stand together during the “Oligarchic Struggle” tour at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus in Orono on May 24, 2026. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“This movement has always been bigger than one person. It’s about taking on a system that’s rigged against working people, fighting for ‘Medicare for All,’ strong unions, higher wages, reproductive freedom, and an economy where billionaires and corporations finally pay their fair share,” Jackson said while gesturing to Platner supporters at a virtual town hall last week. he said.

“This is what Graham does best: he talked about fighting against the health care industry and the prescription drug industry to make sure that people in this state and this country have affordable, quality health care,” Jackson said during a debate among Senate alternate candidates last week, pointing to Platner.

5. Supported by leading progressives

California Rep. Ro Khanna, a leading progressive figure in the House of Representatives and one of the Democratic 2028 presidential hopefuls, was a leading supporter of Platner.

Khanna quickly shifted his support to Jackson to replace Platner in this month’s sprint.

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Also supporting Jackson is Our Revolution, a group that emerged from Sanders’ first presidential campaign in 2016.

And Jackson has strong support from labor unions in Maine.

Support from Platner’s former allies helped Jackson capture an overwhelming majority of county-elected delegates over the weekend.