Former Maine lawmaker Troy Jackson has moved into a strong position to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Maine after several of his opponents dropped out of the race.
U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson takes part in a debate at the WCSH-6 television studio, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Portland, Maine. From podium left, U.S. Senate candidates Shenna Bellows, Troy Jackson, Dr. Nirav Shah, and Jordan Wood talk with moderator Phil Hirschkorn at WCSH-6 before a televised debate at the WCSH-6 studio Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Portland, Maine.
U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson takes part in a debate at the WCSH-6 television studio, Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Portland, Maine. The quick change in the landscape of the race came on a weekend when party committees across the state began choosing delegates for a nominating convention that will meet July 25 to select a new candidate to faceBetween Saturday and Sunday.
Troy Jackson’s campaign touted they had secured hundreds of delegates who had promised to back him at the convention, including all of their preferred delegates for Maine's most populous county, Cumberland. Maine's Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, withdrew Sunday morning, saying Democrats didn't have “a day to waste in unifying" around the goal of defeating Collins. Nirav Shah, former director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, dropped out and endorsed Jackson in the early evening.
He was quickly followed by Dan Kleban, the co-founder of Maine Beer Company, and Jordan Wood, both of whom also endorsed Jackson. With all of his most formidable opponents out, Jackson looked tough to beat at next weekend's convention. Our Revolution, a progressive organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont that had originally backed Platner, threw its support behind Jackson.
Jackson, 58, was a logger before he became a politician. He was elected to the state legislature in 2002 and ultimately became the president of Maine's senate. He left office in 2024 due to term limits. Jackson unsuccessfully ran to be the Democratic nominee for governor earlier this year with Platner's backing, but wasn't successful.
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