'Disorienting': Maine Democrats race to bolster new candidate in must-win race
Bangor, Maine (CNN) — Maine Democrats are poised to pick Troy Jackson as their new Senate nominee on Saturday, the culmination of a brief and unusual contest to replace Graham Platner after he left the battleground race amid scandal.
Organizers of the party convention had envisioned a robust field of candidates vying to win a majority of 601 delegates picked from across the state. Instead, Jackson, the former Maine Senate president who lost a bid for governor earlier this year, filled most delegate slots with his supporters and forced his most serious opponents to drop out. He has one opponent left: Saundra Pelletier, a political unknown.
“I don’t think anybody saw it coming,” said Dan Kleban, who was among the candidates to enter the field after Platner’s withdrawal only to step aside for Jackson. “I know there are people who might be a little bitter about the process or the way Troy played it, but we’re going to need someone who can put together that kind of sophisticated organization and Troy showed he could do that.”
Jackson’s expected nomination will wrap up a tortuous journey by Maine Democrats to find a candidate for one of the most consequential races in this year’s battle for control of the US Senate.
In a 100-day sprint, Jackson will now try to something that has eluded Democrats for 30 years: defeat Republican Sen. Susan Collins, a fellow northern Maine native who has GOP-aligned groups ready to spend tens of millions of dollars to bolster her campaign.
As Democratic delegates from across Maine began arriving in Bangor for Saturday’s convention, some front yards were still dotted with Platner campaign signs, while a stack of “Troy Jackson for Governor” signs were still on display at a union hall.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” said Sarah Bigney McCabe, organizing director for the Maine AFL-CIO, who rushed to tuck away Platner signs when a reporter visited her office this week. “It’s a very compressed timeline to only have just over 100 days to win a competitive US Senate race.”
Platner, an oyster farmer, excited the state’s Democrats with his insurgent primary campaign, defeating Gov. Janet Mills along the way and overcoming a series of scandals over his personal behavior and online comments. But his bid ultimately collapsed after an allegation of rape that he has denied.
While Jackson was among those who called on Platner to drop out after the rape allegation, he heavily appealed to Platner’s former supporters in seeking to replace him. His platform includes passing the universal health care program known as Medicare for All, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and hiking taxes on billionaires.
“This movement has always been about working people having the opportunity, showing up and fighting for what they deserve,” Jackson told delegates during county nominating conventions last weekend. “I’m running for every worker who’s ever been told to keep their head down, accept less, and grateful for the scraps that they were given.”
Saturday’s proceedings could be short.
The convention is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. at the Cross Insurance Center. After delegates establish quorum and adopt any last-minute rules, they will hear nominating and candidate speeches. Then they will vote, which will take just one round because a majority is required to win and there are only two candidates left.
Jackson’s only remaining opponent is Pelletier, the CEO of Evofem Biosciences, a women’s healthcare company. She has warned against a “coronation” in Bangor.
“No candidate can claim victory before the delegates have voted,” she said during a telephone town hall Thursday night. “I respect the delegates far too much to accept that the decision has already been made for them.”
Jackson, meanwhile, has continued to consolidate support from former opponents and Maine Democratic leaders despite reports in recent days detailing alleged angry outbursts when he was in the state Senate, including one incident where he threw a water bottle. His campaign has acknowledged that there have been “moments when he let his frustration get the better of him” but said he took responsibility for his conduct afterward.
Jackson has shifted his attention more to Collins in recent days, focusing on her support for Supreme Court justices who helped overturn Roe v. Wade. He has also criticized Collins’ votes to fund ICE in the wake of an agent shooting and killing a man earlier this month in the coastal town of Biddeford.
Collins has not extensively addressed Jackson ahead of the convention but made comments to reporters labeling him a “Bernie bro,” a sometimes derisive term for supporters of independent Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Sanders backed Jackson when he was running for governor but has stayed out of the Senate nominating process.
Crystale Lapham, a volunteer organizer for Platner’s campaign who helped form the Maine People Powered Movement, said she intends to work just as hard on behalf of Jackson to accomplish the ultimate goal of defeating Collins. Asked about the “Bernie bro” comment, she smiled.
“I welcome her being dismissive about this,” Lapham said. “I believe that we are more aligned than we are divided.”
The-CNN-Wire
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