Troy Jackson secures Democratic nomination for Maine Senate seat after chaotic primary race

Troy Jackson speaks to reporters at a campaign event on 5 June 2026 in Bar Harbor, Maine. Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP View image in fullscreen Troy Jackson speaks to reporters at a campaign event on 5 June 2026 in Bar Harbor, Maine. Photograph: Robert F Bukaty/AP Troy Jackson secures Democratic nomination for Maine Senate seat after chaotic primary race Progressive former state senate president gains nomination after Graham Platner dropped out over sexual assault allegations In a race defined by scandal, withdrawals and a frantic hunt for a replacement candidate, Maine Democrats hit reset on their chaotic Senate primary on Saturday as Troy Jackson officially secured the party’s nomination. He took the stage at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor to rapturous applause, a standing ovation and Noah Kahan’s Northern Attitude blaring over the speakers. “This is the absolute honor of my life,” Jackson said. His win amounted to a coronation for the progressive fifth‑generation logger and former state senate president, who faced no real opposition at the special convention after every major rival stepped aside. Their exits cleared the path for Jackson to replace Graham Platner – the oysterman and marine veteran who ended his campaign amid mounting controversies that culminated in a sexual assault allegation he has denied. Platner dropped out days after Politico reported that a woman he dated five years ago said he forced her to have sex despite repeated objections. His withdrawal triggered a breakneck scramble inside the Maine Democratic party to devise a process for selecting a new nominee before the state’s 27 July deadline to select a replacement for the general‑election ballot. “I know many of you poured your hearts into building this movement way before I ever entered this race,” Jackson said on Saturday. “But the hope that you built never belonged to anyone campaigning. It belongs to every Mainer who knows that healthcare is a human right, belongs to every worker fighting for a union, a living wage and a dignified environment.” Progressive frontrunner and Maine logger poised to replace Graham Platner in chaotic primary Read more Jackson, 58, finished third in the ranked‑choice gubernatorial primary, won the support of 566 delegates out of the almost 600 present on Saturday. But his victory was all but assured once a majority of Mainers who won county‑level delegate elections last weekend pledged to back him ahead of the convention. The remaining delegates come from the state party committee. By Sunday, as Jackson’s nomination became inevitable, all of his major challengers bowed out of the hastily assembled contest. That included fellow gubernatorial contenders – former Maine CDC director Nirav Shah and the Maine secretary of state, Shenna Bellows – as well as Jordan Wood, the former congressional candidate who ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for Maine’s second district. “The easy solution”, said the Maine Democratic party chair, C