Despite past calls to make the popular vote the deciding factor for presidential elections in Maine, Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine, is facing backlash for embracing his newfound Democratic Party nomination despite a process that circumvented the usual statewide consideration.
The Maine Senate election spun out of control for Democrats earlier this month when sexual assault allegations emerged against the party’s official candidate, Graham Platner.
Scrambling in response to the fallout, Maine Democrats announced they would create an open process, allowing potential replacement candidates to submit their intent to run and begin collecting signatures to appear on the ballot. Then, a convention of 601 delegates would vote to select the new nominee.
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“We have worked hard to create a fair process that is inclusive of varying viewpoints and diverse backgrounds of Democrats across the state of Maine, as we all come together in service of our ultimate goal: defeat Susan Collins and win this Senate seat,” the Maine Democrats website states.
“These circumstances are unprecedented, but our state party is ready and capable of rising to this challenge.”
Kristen Cianci, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, unleashed on Jackson and the process that made him the nominee.
“It’s become increasingly clear that Troy Jackson will shapeshift into anything he needs to in order to gain power – including abandoning the belief that voters should decide elections,” Cianci said in a statement.
“Mainers want a senator they can trust, not a snake-oil-salesman standing ready to sell them out at a moment’s notice,” she added.
But even before the process began, political observers believed Jackson, a fellow progressive like Platner, would prevail. Like Platner, Jackson has called for universal healthcare, the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), severing U.S. military aid to Israel and raising taxes on the nation’s top earners.
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Shannon Watts, a political activist and commentator who opposed Platner’s nomination, wasted no time in blasting Jackson as a possible alternative.
“So no, we’re not going to pick this f—ing guy,” Watts said, anticipating the party’s progressive support for Jackson despite his own reported misconduct. Jackson allegedly threw a water bottle at fellow Democratic state senator Heather Sanborn in 2021, an outburst Jackson has since apologized for.
Despite apprehension from Watts and concern from other Democrats about pre-selecting a candidate, of the 601 delegates at the Maine convention on Saturday, 456 came out already committed to Jackson’s nomination — roughly 75% of the delegates. In the end, Jackson won 566 delegates, or 94% of the total support.
Jackson did not immediately respond to requests for comment on whether he saw his nomination as a circumvention of the regular primary process.
In the past, Jackson has stressed the importance of Democratic participation.
“I’ve always believed that our democracy is at its best when everyone has a chance to participate – whether I agree with you on an issue or not,” Jackson posted on X in 2020 leading up to a Maine Democratic primary.
In 2019, he sponsored legislation that would have Maine award its electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote, citing his support for direct democracy.
“Let’s total all the votes up across the country, and whoever gets the most votes wins; that seems a simple premise to me,” Jackson told local media outlets in 2019.
Since his nomination, Jackson has insisted he can represent all factions of the Democratic Party, even without a statewide vote to cement his nomination.
“There is a place in this campaign for all of you. There is work for you in this movement. And I will spend every day now through November earning that trust, because today we turn the page. Today, this becomes a general election campaign, and today we begin the work of defeating Susan Collins in November,” Jackson said after his nomination.
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Notably, Jackson has attracted the endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris — another Democratic figure who stepped in at the 11th hour to rescue a campaign.
“I know what it is like to step up to the plate with a short runway to Election Day. Troy will have just 101 days between his nomination for Senate and when voters in Maine will cast their ballots,” Harris said in a fundraising email on Monday.
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