“There is an unprecedented amount of energy and enthusiasm among Maine Democrats, driven in part by many of the dedicated volunteers and supporters who were inspired by Graham Platner’s campaign,” the letter reads. “We look forward to coming together and harnessing that energy around our new nominee as we work to defeat Susan Collins in November.”
The potential candidates
Troy Jackson, a former president of the Maine Senate, announced his bid for Senate following Platner’s exit.
“I’m in. And we’re going to defeat Susan Collins,” Jackson wrote on X. “Maine deserves a Senator that will fight for working families.”
Jackson is a progressive Democrat and logger from rural Maine who served in the state legislature—first in the lower chamber and then the upper—for more than 20 years. He previously mounted a bid for the state’s governorship, but fell short in last month’s primary election.
Our Revolution, a progressive group founded by Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, endorsed Jackson on Wednesday, saying that he “has spent his life in the fight working people are asking for, not arriving to it just because a seat opened up.”.