Troy Jackson poised to win Maine Democratic Senate nod vs Collins

BANGOR, Maine – The race to replace former candidate Graham Platner ends on Saturday; because Maine Democrats will quickly push Troy Jackson as their party’s nominee in a high-stakes Senate showdown with longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

Jackson, a former state Senate president, is on pace to replace Platner at the Maine Democratic Party nominating convention in Bangor after winning the vast majority of voting delegates elected by Democrats last weekend in the northern New England state’s 16 counties. And Jackson’s top rivals in the race to replace Platner endorsed him after he dropped out of the race in the past few days, leaving only one long-shot candidate at the convention for delegates to consider.

The Senate race in Maine, where Collins is the only GOP official running for re-election in a state that President Donald Trump lost in the 2024 election, is one of nearly a dozen midterm showdowns across the country that will determine whether Republicans maintain their slim majority or Democrats regain control of the chamber.

“Let’s get to work defeating Susan Collins and creating the Maine working people deserve,” Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from Maine’s remote northern tip and onetime conservative Republican who became a Democrat more than two decades ago, said in a social media post ahead of the convention.

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While Jackson is quickly raising over $1 million for his burgeoning Senate campaign and unified party support, there are some potential warning signs.

After reports last week examining Jackson’s alleged anger and workplace behavior, allegations of mortgage irregularities as well as other potential liabilities, including his past staunch anti-abortion stance, some in the party are concerned that Democrats are fielding another unvetted candidate in the wake of Platner’s outburst.

“It’s kind of a rocket vetting process,” a Democratic strategist working on Senate races who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely told Fox News Digital. “Maine Democrats have seemingly made their choice and will have to abide by it.”

“It’s clear that Democrats should not be looking to Maine to flip the Senate,” said a veteran Democratic consultant who asked to remain anonymous.

“The good news is that we are missing opportunities in places like Texas, Iowa and Alaska,” added the consultant who has worked with centrist Democratic Senate candidates.

Platner, a former military combatant and oyster farmer who is backed by progressive champion and Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, quickly saw his campaign catch fire shortly after launching his bid last August. Longtime Democratic Senate leader Sen. Two-term Democratic Gov. Janet Mills, who was heavily recruited by Chuck Schumer to run for the Senate, suspended her campaign this spring after falling behind Platner in fundraising and polls.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT TROY JACKSON, ABOUT TO REPLACE GRAHAM PLATNER AS THE DEMOCRATS’ SENATE CANDIDATE

Graham Platner speaks at the Primary Election event on June 9, 2026 in Blue Hill, Maine. (CJ Gunther/Getty Images)

But even as Platner crushed the competition by crushing the Democratic Party in primary elections to win the nomination in Maine last month, he had already been forced to go on the defensive following a series of scandals.

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.

Jackson, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, campaigned with Platner during the primary. And he quickly demonstrated that he was the candidate best equipped to take on the role of the progressive and populist movement that supported Platner.

Similar to Platner, Jackson is running on a platform aimed at 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 (ICE), and opposes military aid to Israel at a time when Democrats are increasingly divided over support for America’s longtime Middle East ally.

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ORONO, MAINE – MAY 24: Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) stands with Maine Governor candidate Troy Jackson (L) and U.S. Democratic 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. Platner is the presumptive Democratic nominee and will face incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) for the Maine U.S. Senate seat in the general election. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Jackson, who also had the support of Sanders while he served as governor, is currently backed in his Senate campaign by Our Revolution, the group that emerged from Sanders’ first presidential campaign in 2016.

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.

And Jackson has strong support from labor unions in Maine. Labor support, along with support from Platner’s former allies, helped Jackson capture an overwhelming majority of county-elected delegates last weekend.

500 delegates elected last weekend and 101 delegates selected by the party will vote for the candidate at the congress. Although delegates on Jackson’s slate are not required to support him at the convention, he is thought to be almost certain to secure the nomination.

Republicans argue that Democrats are stacking the decks to support Jackson, Platner’s replacement.

“Maine voters were alienated by the Democratic establishment through a rigged nominating process to crown Platner 2.0 without a single vote being cast,” Republican National Committee spokeswoman Kristen Cianci said in a statement to Fox News Digital. he said.

As Collins seeks her sixth six-year term in the Senate, she faces a tough political climate for Republicans as GOP President Donald Trump’s soaring approval ratings, persistent inflation and polls show an unpopular war with Iran.

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Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine tours a food bank on May 5, 2026, in Harrison, Maine. The food bank was able to expand thanks to federal funding the senator helped obtain. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News)

The senator, known as a moderate Republican who has occasionally voted against Trump, was met with bipartisan praise after reaching a milestone last month by casting his 10,000th consecutive Senate vote.

But Democrats rejected the landmark Roe v. decision four years later because of Collins’ comments that she had no regrets about her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. Wade is targeting Democrats despite his critical vote to overturn the abortion decision.

And in the wake of a deadly shooting involving federal immigration agents in Maine earlier this month, Democrats heavily criticized the Senate Appropriations Committee chairman for his support for ICE funding.

But Collins has a history of defeating Democrats’ efforts to oust her from the Senate.

Six years ago, he was trailing his Democratic opponent, then-Maine House of Representatives speaker Sara Gideon, but the senator won re-election by nearly 9 points.

The Senate showdown in Maine is expected to be competitive, combustible and expensive; Outside groups on both sides spend big money running ads.

Fox News released its first Power Rankings for the 2026 midterm elections on July 21, 2026. (Fox News)

The first Fox News Power Rankings for the 2026 midterms, which measure the competitiveness of elections using data, reporting and analysis, were released this week. And they’re treating the showdown in Maine as a shootout.

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Meanwhile a Pine Tree Survey A recent survey by the University of New Hampshire Research Center showed that among likely general election voters in Maine, Jackson was right on the edge of the margin of error, with a slim three-point lead over Collins.