Maine Democrats formally chose former state Senate president Troy Jackson as their U.S. Senate nominee on Saturday, capping a chaotic two-week scramble to replace Graham Platner, who withdrew following a sexual assault allegation he denies.

Jackson, a fifth-generation logger and progressive, walked into the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor to a standing ovation and the song Northern Attitude, then accepted the nomination with a speech that blended populist rhetoric with calls for healthcare as a human right and worker solidarity.

From crisis to coronation

Platner, an oyster farmer and Marine veteran, abandoned his campaign on July 10 after POLITICO reported that a former girlfriend said he forced her to have sex in 2021 despite her repeated objections. The allegation dissolved national support, and the Maine Democratic Party scrambled to devise a replacement process before the July 27 ballot deadline.

Thirteen candidates initially jumped in, but Jackson consolidated support rapidly. Over the weekend of July 19-20, his allies dominated county-level delegate elections, securing pledges from more than 480 of the nearly 600 delegates who would decide the nomination at the special convention.

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

By Sunday, July 20, every major challenger had suspended their campaign, including former gubernatorial rivals Nirav Shah and Shenna Bellows, and congressional candidate Jordan Wood. The convention, once expected to drag through multiple ballots, ended before noon.

The nominee

Jackson, 58, ran for governor earlier in 2026 and finished third in the June primary. He entered politics as a Republican in 2000, lost, then won a state House seat as an independent two years later before switching to the Democratic Party in 2004. He rose to Senate president and left the statehouse in 2024. His platform includes Medicare for All, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a federal right to abortion, and cutting off tax dollars to Israel's military.

Endorsements from Senator Bernie Sanders, Our Revolution, and Platner himself helped unify the progressive wing behind him. At the convention, Jackson won 566 out of almost 600 delegates, facing only token opposition from health care CEO Saundra Pelletier.

“We're not from the left. We're not from the right. We're from the bottom.”

The general election stakes

Jackson now begins a 101-day sprint to unseat five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins, who chairs the Appropriations Committee and has an $11 million war chest. Collins, 73, last won in 2020 by nearly 9 percentage points even as Joe Biden carried Maine by a similar margin. In 2024, Kamala Harris won the state by about 7 points.

Maine is the only state with a Republican up for reelection that Harris carried, making it central to Democratic hopes of reversing the GOP's 53-47 Senate majority. A University of New Hampshire poll released this week showed Jackson with a narrow lead over Collins among likely general election voters.

“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.”

Money and momentum

Jackson's campaign raised more than $1 million since he entered the condensed race, including $600,000 from Sunday to Wednesday alone. Nearly 25,000 donors contributed, the campaign said. Affordability, immigration, and the Trump presidency are expected to dominate the general election, and Republicans have stockpiled advertising for a massive blitz against the eventual nominee.