Troy Jackson sweeps Maine delegate fight, becomes all but certain Democratic Senate nominee to face Susan Collins

The scramble to replace Platner

Graham Platner, the progressive oysterman who won Maine's Democratic Senate primary in June, was forced from the race 12 days ago after allegations of sexual assault, which he denies, surfaced. The Maine Democratic Party had until July 27 to formally declare a replacement with the secretary of state, leaving less than three weeks to stand up a nomination process. County meetings across the state's 16 counties last weekend selected 601 delegates for a state convention this Saturday in Bangor, where the new nominee will be chosen through successive rounds of voting until one candidate reaches a majority.

Jackson consolidates support

Troy Jackson, a former state Senate president and fifth-generation logger, emerged as the overwhelming front-runner after his supporters swept the delegate selection meetings. His campaign released a slate showing commanding support, and within days three other contenders, Nirav Shah, Dan Kleban, and Jordan Wood, ended their campaigns and endorsed him. Jackson, who finished third in June's Democratic gubernatorial primary, had already built a progressive profile: he is endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders and campaigns on Medicare for All, cutting tax dollars to Israel's military, abolishing ICE, and a federal right to abortion. He often campaigned alongside Platner during the original primary and has begun tailoring his stump speech to welcome Platner's former supporters without naming him.

We're well on our way to getting the government that we fucking deserve.

Friction over the process

The compressed timeline and party rules that limited participation to registered Democrats drew sharp criticism. Lindsey Harwath, a healthcare worker who backed Platner in June, was turned away from a county meeting in Augusta because she is not a registered Democrat. "We were not under the impression that people were going to be already coming into this process predetermined," she said. "That seems very undemocratic. That seems like rigging a process before you've done it." Maine Democratic Party Chair Charlie Dingman responded that the convention would be "fair, representative, and as transparent as possible as we all come together in service of our ultimate goal: defeat Susan Collins and win this Senate seat."

Jackson's strengths and vulnerabilities

Jackson's gruff, northern Maine accent and everyman style, baseball caps, t-shirts, a phone belt clip, could connect with rural voters, but his halting oratory worries some Democrats who recall Platner's more compelling presence. In conversations with dozens of Democrats across the state, even Jackson supporters expressed concern that he lacks the charisma to energize the coalition needed to unseat Collins. He has little experience raising the multimillion-dollar sums required for a battleground Senate race and has in the past disparaged some of Maine's biggest Democratic donors. Republicans, meanwhile, have been preparing a massive ad blitz against whoever emerges as the nominee. Campaigning in a school parking lot in Sanford, Jackson sought to broaden his appeal: "Whether you supported me from the beginning, or are still deciding, or support another candidate, there is a place for you in this movement."

Because we're not going to defeat Susan Collins by making this movement smaller. There's no way that that's ever going to work.

What comes next

The state convention on Saturday will vote in rounds until one candidate reaches a majority. Delegates are not formally bound, but Jackson's organizational dominance, his campaign said "hundreds of hundreds of people organized their neighbors", makes him the prohibitive favorite. The winner will face five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins in November, with control of the Senate potentially at stake.