Maine Democrats nominated progressive Troy Jackson as their candidate for the US Senate on Saturday, after their previous candidate withdrew in early July following rape accusations, in a crucial state for the race for the majority in Congress.
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Mr. Jackson, a lumberjack and former president of the Maine Senate, was chosen almost unanimously at a convention of the local branch of the Democratic Party, organized in an emergency after the abandonment of Graham Platner two weeks ago.
A Democratic sensation in the campaign ahead of the November midterm elections, Mr. Platner announced on July 8 that he was giving up running for a seat in the Senate after accusations of rape, which he denies. They put an end to a journey already marred by numerous scandals.
The election in Maine is one of the key elections in November for Democrats if they want to regain the majority in the Senate, currently controlled by Republicans.
Maine Democratic delegates cheer the announcement of Troy Jackson as the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, replacing Graham Platner on the November ballot, July 25, 2026, in Bangor, Maine.
Getty Images via AFP
This rural and coastal state in the northeastern tip of the United States has voted in majority for Democratic presidential candidates since 1992. But the outgoing senator, Susan Collins, has been re-elected there four times under the Republican label since 1996.
Graham Platner was to face the 73-year-old elected official in a few months and several polls gave him the winner, with a certain popular enthusiasm around his message centered on the fight against the oligarchy and on the lowering of the cost of living.
Representative of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in Maine, Troy Jackson carries a similar message, centered on the defense of the working classes against the economic and political elites.
“A defender of access to affordable and working health care, Jackson has mobilized popular energy in Maine and is well positioned to beat Susan Collins, who is more vulnerable than ever,” responded in a statement the leader of the Democratic minority in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, responsible for the Democratic campaign for the upper house of the American Parliament.
