Source: Politics<\/p>\n
SANFORD, Maine \u2014 Troy Jackson has effectively secured the Democratic nomination in the crucial Maine Senate race, winning the support of a majority of the state delegates who will officially nominate a candidate next weekend.<\/p>\n
While they are not legally bound to support him, nearly two-thirds of the 601 delegates have committed to voting for Jackson at that statewide convention. Jackson dominated the county-level meetings<\/a> this weekend that selected those delegates, with two rivals falling far behind \u2014 and one of them, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, dropping out of the race partway through the process Sunday.<\/p>\n The party\u2019s statewide convention in Bangor, Maine, next weekend will cap a tumultuous scramble to replace Graham Platner, who won the primary but dropped out this month after POLITICO reported that<\/a> a woman he previously dated said he forced her to have sex with him. Platner denied the allegations.<\/p>\n A progressive 5th generation logger from the far-northern corner of Allagash, Maine, Jackson has had a long career in organizing progressive activists and ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who had endorsed him in his gubernatorial race earlier this year. <\/p>\n The candidate will have less than four months to spin up a major battleground Senate campaign against GOP Sen. Susan Collins, the only Senate Republican running for reelection in a state carried by former Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024.<\/p>\n Jackson turned his attention to the general election at a Sunday morning rally ahead of the delegate meeting in York County, where he secured the support of enough delegates to cross the 50 percent threshold.<\/p>\n \u201cWhether you supported me from the beginning, or are still deciding, or support another candidate, there is a place for you in this movement,\u201d he told a few dozen supporters in a school parking lot in Sanford, Maine, echoing what has been a familiar line in his speeches since entering the Senate race. \u201cBecause we’re not going to defeat Susan Collins by making this movement smaller. There’s no way that that’s ever going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n Bellows dropped out of the race just minutes before voting began on Sunday and encouraged Democrats to coalesce behind Jackson.<\/p>\n \u201cThis has been an unprecedented nominating process, compressed into days instead of months, and I’m grateful to every volunteer who worked around the clock for this movement,\u201d she said in a statement<\/a>. \u201cThat energy is exactly what we need to beat Susan Collins in November \u2014 and Democrats don’t have a day to waste in unifying around that shared goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson\u2019s whirlwind path to the nomination is the prologue to an even tougher test. Collins has defeated well-funded Democrats of all stripes since she was first elected in 1996, and currently has an $11 million war chest in reserves, according to the latest filings from the Federal Election Commission.<\/p>\n And Jackson\u2019s last-minute ascension puts him at an even greater disadvantage: Maine\u2019s nominating convention on Saturday is just 101 days before Election Day in November, giving Jackson less time to run against Collins than Harris had in her losing campaign against Donald Trump in 2024.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to put our ground game even more into maximum overdrive,\u201d Jackson told reporters after his Sanford rally, referencing Platner\u2019s large number of town halls and his short timeline. \u201cWhat did Graham have, 70 town halls? If we did one every other day we wouldn\u2019t be able to do 70 from here on out.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson also said he will have to quickly introduce himself to the southern part of the state, given he hails from the far-north and represented the area in the state Senate.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not as well known down here,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m six hours away from my home. And as we know, the state legislature means nothing. Nobody\u2019s following it. It\u2019s a lot of work to make sure people know what I\u2019m about.\u201d<\/p>\n Many former Platner supporters were part of the team of volunteers, organizers and delegate nominees that whipped votes for Jackson\u2019s delegate slate in counties across Maine over the weekend. The strength of his organizing operation helped Jackson jump out to a commanding lead after Saturday\u2019s meetings<\/a>, including a sweep of all 149 delegates in Cumberland County, the largest county in the state.<\/p>\n Travis Jones, a former Platner supporter from Seal Harbor, Maine, who was elected as a delegate alternate in Hancock County, where Platner lives, said he\u2019s backing Jackson because of the similarities between Platner\u2019s progressive agenda and the Jackson campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a big supporter of the previous candidate, Graham Platner. I really liked his policies. Troy mirrors a lot of those,\u201d Jones said ahead of the delegate meeting in Ellsworth, Maine, on Saturday. \u201cThe previous campaign really energized me, and here I am today.\u201d<\/p>\n