{"id":5342,"date":"2026-07-25T16:07:06","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T16:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5342"},"modified":"2026-07-25T16:07:06","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T16:07:06","slug":"maine-dems-pick-troy-jackson-to-replace-graham-platner-and-take-on-susan-collins-in-high-stakes-senate-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=5342","title":{"rendered":"Maine Dems pick Troy Jackson to replace Graham Platner and take on Susan Collins in high stakes Senate race\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Maine Democrats officially tapped former logger and one-time state Senate President Troy Jackson on Saturday to replace accused rapist Graham Platner as the party nominee in the high-stakes race against incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The special nominating convention in Bangor served as a coronation for Jackson, who essentially locked up the nomination earlier this week after the vast majority of Maine\u2019s 601 delegates pledged to support the 58-year-old \u2013 resulting in all but one of his opponents to drop out of the race.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jackson\u2019s nomination caps a mad scramble that started on July 8, when Platner announced that he would bow out of the Senate race after a woman he previously dated, Jenny Racicot, publicly alleged that he drunkenly raped her at her Maine home in 2021. <\/p>\n

Platner, who continues to vehemently deny the accusation, officially withdrew from the race on July 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n

State law gave Democratic party leaders until July 27 to settle on a new nominee.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Even before the post-Platner politicking began, many viewed Jackson as the favorite to succeed disgraced former oyster farmer, given his populist brand of politics.<\/p>\n

Jackson, a fifth-generation lumberjack and long-time union member, had been endorsed by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in the Maine governor\u2019s race, in which he finished in third place.<\/p>\n

A onetime Republican, the ex-lumberjack previously held\u00a0staunch socially conservative views on abortion, gay marriage, and immigration \u2013 even after he switched allegiances to the Democratic Party in 2004.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Jackson is also known for vicious anger flare-ups, including an incident in which he allegedly hurled a water bottle at a female pol in a fit of rage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was an inch from her nose, screaming and hollering and haranguing her,\u201d a former colleague recounted to the Washington Post, noting that there wasn\u2019t physical contact.<\/p>\n

At the time, Jackson was serving as president of Maine\u2019s state Senate, and the targeted female lawmaker was terrified that he was attempting to hit her with the water bottle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jackson\u2019s campaign acknowledges the Democratic nominee launched a water bottle, but vehemently denies that he was trying to hit the woman with it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the latest on the bombshell sexual assault allegations which forced Graham Platner to drop out of Maine Senate race :<\/h2>\n