Troy Jackson: the Maine lumberjack Democrats believe can beat Susan Collins

Troy Jackson at an event in Portland, Maine, in May. Jackson is set to be nominated at a special convention on Saturday. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images View image in fullscreen Troy Jackson at an event in Portland, Maine, in May. Jackson is set to be nominated at a special convention on Saturday. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images Profile Troy Jackson: the Maine lumberjack Democrats believe can beat Susan Collins Jackson, set to replace Graham Platner, is prominent workers’ rights advocate and a leading progressive voice As cinemagoers flock to The Odyssey , Democrats in Maine are hoping that their long and perilous quest for a political hero ends in Troy. They are set to nominate lumberjack Troy Jackson this weekend as their candidate to challenge Susan Collins, a veteran Republican in the US Senate, after the implosion of the party’s original candidate left them scrambling for a replacement less than four months before the midterm elections. Jackson, a former president of the Democratic-controlled Maine senate, is widely expected to secure the nomination at a special party convention in Bangor on Saturday. He would inherit a race transformed by the abrupt withdrawal of the primary winner, Graham Platner , following allegations of sexual assault made by a former girlfriend, accusations he has denied. While Kamala Harris infamously had only 107 days to build a presidential campaign in 2024, Jackson would have even less time for a battle that could decide control of the 100-member Senate. The fifth-generation logger from Aroostook county in northern Maine combines an unusual political biography with an unapologetically progressive platform. He first came to prominence in the late 1990s when he led a week-long blockade by Maine loggers protesting the employment of Canadian workers, whom they accused of depressing wages. The demonstration ended with police escorting him away but established his reputation as a champion of rural workers, which would continue into his time as a legislator. Jackson initially ran as a Republican in 2000 when he sought a seat in Maine’s house of representatives. He lost but won two years later when he ran as an independent. He switched to the Democratic party in 2004 and went on to serve three terms in the house before being elected to the state senate, where he was president from 2018 until 2024. View image in fullscreen Jackson with fellow loggers at a protest at the US-Canada border in October 1998. Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP In contrast to Platner, the biggest scandal attached to him so far is that he displayed flashes of temper such as cursing, shouting and throwing a water bottle in a meeting when he could not persuade someone to vote his way, according to a Washington Post report based on interviews with more than two dozen people. Jackson’s political views have shifted significantly over the years. Earlier in his career he opposed abortion rights and same-sex marriage, positions he has since abandoned. He