Maine Democrats nominate Troy Jackson to face Sen. Susan Collins after Graham Platner's exit

Maine Democrats convened in Bangor on Saturday with more than 600 delegates gathered at a nominating convention to formally select a replacement for Graham Platner, whose campaign ended earlier this month after a former girlfriend accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021. Platner denied the allegation but withdrew from the race after key supporters called on him to do so. Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger and former president of the Maine Senate, was nominated as the party's new candidate.

Jackson, who had previously run unsuccessfully for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and campaigned alongside Platner during that race, quickly consolidated support after Platner's exit. His campaign reported that more than 480 of the 601 delegates were committed to him before the convention began, and most of his remaining rivals had dropped out by July 19. The one other candidate remaining in the race, women's health company CEO Saundra Pelletier, faced long odds. Jackson is backed by Our Revolution, the political organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders, and by Rep. Ro Khanna of California, who had previously supported Platner.

Jackson is running on a platform that emphasizes economic issues for working-class voters, including Medicare for All, raising taxes on wealthy individuals and large corporations, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and ending U.S. military aid to Israel. He has also shifted his positions on abortion rights and LGBTQ protections since earlier in his political career, moving toward support for federal legislation on both issues.