Maine Democrats nominate former Senate President Troy Jackson to challenge Susan Collins in crucial midterm race

The scramble after Platner

Graham Platner, who had won Maine's Democratic Senate primary in June, withdrew on July 10 after a former girlfriend accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021, an allegation he denies. His exit triggered a chaotic two-week search for a replacement on the November ballot, drawing 13 candidates. By the weekend of July 18-19, Jackson's allies had dominated the delegate selection process statewide, prompting the top three challengers to suspend their campaigns. Over 600 delegates gathered Saturday at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor, beneath a 31-foot Paul Bunyan statue, to ratify the choice. By morning it was a formality: Jackson's team said more than 480 delegates had already pledged their vote. Saundra Pelletier, a wealthy biopharmaceutical CEO, remained as the only other candidate and told the hall, "I know a lot of you came supporting another candidate, and I respect that," but she did not force a floor fight.

This is pretty anticlimactic.

The convention, initially expected to stretch into the afternoon with multiple ballots, wrapped before noon. Delegates mingled in Jackson-branded shirts and lanyards as a staffer announced over the microphone that someone's keys had been found.

Jackson's populist pitch

Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from rural northern Maine, entered politics in 2000 as a Republican, lost a state House race, won two years later as an independent, and switched to the Democratic Party in 2004. He rose to become Maine Senate president before leaving the statehouse in 2024. This year he ran a distant third in the Democratic primary for governor but carried endorsements from Platner, Senator Bernie Sanders and the Sanders-founded Our Revolution. His Senate campaign has raised more than $1 million since he jumped into the race, with $600,000 flowing in from nearly 25,000 donors between Sunday and Wednesday.

In his acceptance speech, Jackson cast the election as a class struggle. He attacked "billionaires and corporations rigging this economy" and declared, "We're not from the left. We're not from the right. We're from the bottom."

When the people in power refuse to listen, you have to organize, you have to stand in solidarity, together. And you have to make them listen.

The general election match-up

Jackson now begins a 101-day sprint to unseat five-term Senator Susan Collins, a 73-year-old moderate Republican. Collins chairs the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, a post she has used to steer federal money to Maine, and has built an $11 million war chest. She won reelection in 2020 by nearly 9 percentage points, even as Joe Biden carried Maine by a similar margin, and Kamala Harris won the state by about 7 points in 2024. A University of New Hampshire poll released this week showed Jackson holding a narrow lead over Collins among likely general election voters. Affordability, immigration, and the Trump administration are expected to dominate the campaign.

The stakes for Senate control

Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate, meaning Democrats need a net gain of four seats to seize control for the final two years of President Donald Trump's term. Collins is the only Republican senator up for reelection in a state that voted for Harris in 2024, making Maine one of the party's top flip opportunities. A Democratic loss here would sharply narrow the path to a majority, while a victory could prove decisive. Jackson is already framing the race as a referendum on economic fairness and the direction of the country under Republican leadership.