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Troy Jackson emerges as potential frontrunner to replace Graham Platner in Maine’s Senate race

Troy Jackson, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks during a demonstration outside of a federal immigration office after a man was fatally shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, on July 14, 2026 in Scarborough, Maine. (Ryan Murphy/Getty Images)

(WASHINGTON) — Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson appears all but certain to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee for Senate in the party’s bid to unseat Republican incumbent Susan Collins this November.

Jackson’s campaign said Monday that “it is turning its full focus toward defeating Senator Susan Collins,” citing a “decisive advantage” during recent county-level caucuses.

Jackson, who comes from a logging family not far from the Quebec border, is a familiar face to Maine voters due to his history of activism and his lengthy background as a state lawmaker in Augusta.

His campaign’s statement also came after an eventful Sunday for Maine politics as four other Democrats dropped out of the running: Dan Kleban, Shenna Bellows and Nirav Shah and Jordan Wood.

“We are suspending our campaign tonight. This is the conclusion of the caucuses and letting this process play out,” Wood, the former chief of staff to Katie Porter when she served as a congresswoman representing California, said in a selfie-style video posted to social media on Sunday evening.

“I’m so proud to endorse my friend Troy Jackson. I didn’t know Troy until over a year ago when I decided to run for office for the first time, but he has become a friend, someone I trust, someone that I know represents and will serve all people in Maine,” Wood added.

Shah and Kleban, like Wood, also endorsed Jackson. Bellows did not mention Jackson when suspending her Senate campaign.

Maine Democrats held county-level nomination meetings over the weekend in order to select delegates ahead of their party’s Senate nominating convention set for this coming Saturday, July 25.

While the Maine Democratic Party’s website lists that eight candidates remain in the race to replace Platner, including former primary candidate David Costello and activist Ashley Webb, delegates who expressed support for Jackson received overwhelming support at the nomination meetings and the candidates who withdrew Sunday were previously viewed as Jackson’s main rivals.

Jackson’s campaign said that 481 of 500 county delegates support his candidacy. A total of 601 delegates will participate in the July 25 convention, with the additional 101 delegates being members of the Maine Democratic State Committee.

Just over six weeks ago, Jackson stood in front of a crowd in a Bar Harbor theater to ask Mainers to support his own bid for governor (a race he lost) and to vote for Platner in the Democratic Senate primary.

But after Platner was accused earlier this month of sexual assault by a former girlfriend, an allegation he’s denied, Jackson joined calls for him to exit the race. Platner formally withdrew his candidacy on July 10.

Now, in nearly a week, Maine voters should know for certain whether Jackson will officially be the Democrats’ pick to try to flip the high-profile Senate seat.

Copyright © 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

US Army attack helicopters crashing at historically high rate amid mechanical issues

By CNN
(CNN) — The US Army’s Apache helicopters are crashing at a historically high rate amid a widespread problem with the model’s transmission, according to a CNN analysis of military accident data.The helicopter type has experienced five major crashes since October, and a deadly mishap earlier this month in Texas killed two soldiers, sparked a wildfire and led the Army to temporarily bar Apache pilots from conducting routine training flights. With that crash, fiscal year 2026 is on pace to be the second worst for Apache flight accidents since a new model of the AH-64 was rolled out in 2011.The Army announced that the pause in training flights, which exempted units deployed to the Middle East, ended Wednesday.This year’s rate of major Apache crashes — known as Class A mishaps in Army parlance, meant to represent any accident that kills or permanently disables a person or results in the loss of an aircraft or $2.5 million in damage — surpasses typical years and rivals that of the service’s most severe rate in the 2024 fiscal year, according to CNN’s review of data. The accident rate is based on the number of incidents compared to the total hours the aircraft spent flying, calculated using data that has been publicly released and flight hour estimates for the current year provided to CNN by the Army.In Fiscal year 2024 there were nine major Apache crashes amid a spike in accidents across all Army helicopter models. Army leaders ordered a special safety training initiative that year and attributed the accidents to human errors stemming from decreased experience among its pilots and an increase in training intensity and complexity after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine inspired a new focus on preparing for major conflicts.But the causes of this year’s spike are murkier. The July issue of an official Army flight safety newsletter said that just over half of this year’s Apache accidents, including more minor incidents, are primarily attributable to human error. It’s unclear how many of the most-severe crashes are due to equipment failures, but the magazine said that “a catastrophic transmission failure was noted in one Class A mishap.”CNN estimated this year’s major Apache crash rate to be approximately 6.24 per every 100,000 flying hours. Thus far in fiscal year 2026, five Class A flight mishaps involving the attack helicopter have occurred. The Apache, through August 15, had flown approximately 80,171 hours. That number combines 42,971 hours through March 31 that were listed in the internal Army safety newsletter and an estimate provided to CNN by an Army safety spokesperson that pilots had logged approximately 37,200 additional flight hours through August 15.Fiscal year 2024, by comparison, had a rate of 7.02 major crashes per 100,000 hours for the aircraft.The E-model Apache, introduced in 2011, has faced significant problems this year with its transmission that could knock out the aircraft’s tail rotor, electrical power and hydraulics, according to a pair of internal safety messages obtained by CNN. The loss of those systems can put a helicopter into a sudden spin and potentially knock out its flight controls. As of mid-July, the cause of the problems remained “under investigation,” according to a safety message released at the time.Army spokesperson Maj. Montrell Russell declined to answer questions regarding the transmission investigation or disclose any “preliminary findings” regarding the causes of this month’s deadly Texas crash at Fort Hood.“We express our deep sadness over the loss of the two Soldiers near Fort Hood,” Russell said in a statement to CNN.He said that “special controls and release protections” prevent the service from providing detailed “technical aviation information,” to include how many of this year’s crashes are related to the helicopters’ transmission.The initial April safety message, first reported by trade publication Defense One, identified 70 potentially faulty transmissions and ordered all units to stop flying affected Apaches pending repair. A follow-up message sent in mid-July said the root cause remains “under investigation” and added 10 more suspect transmissions to the no-fly list.The two safety messages combined to impact roughly a tenth of the Army’s attack helicopter fleet. In early June, an Army official told CNN that all affected Apaches remained grounded, and the Army did not answer CNN’s questions about how many, if any, have returned to flight since then.Meanwhile, the Apache’s transmission issues continue to be mentioned in Army flight documents. CNN obtained an August 14 internal Army order that formally cited the two transmission safety messages in its references for the service’s training flight pause after the Texas crash. Russell cautioned that “including these messages in safety reviews does not imply causation for any individual mishap.”The Apache’s manufacturer, Boeing, has deployed teams to Army maintenance depots to assist with inspecting and fixing the transmissions, according to the Army order.The Army and Boeing did not answer questions on how they identified the potentially faulty parts.A Boeing spokesperson confirmed to CNN that the company is “supporting the U.S. Army’s investigation to ensure the operational readiness and safety of any affected aircraft,” but referred additional questions to the Army.Davis Winkie’s work at CNN is supported by a partnership between Outrider Foundation and Journalism Funding Partners (JFP). CNN retains full editorial control of the reporting.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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