Progressive Troy Jackson Becomes the Presumptive Democratic Nominee in Maine Senate Race

A former Maine state senate president, Troy Jackson, is unofficially the presumptive Democratic nominee in the U.S. Senate race to face off against Senator Susan Collins in November. Mr. Jackson’s slate won a majority of the delegate votes at this weekend’s county caucus meetings, meaning he is all but guaranteed to win the nomination at a convention of Maine Democrats six days from now. The nominating process for choosing a Democratic Senate candidate this year is a historic one, precipitated by Graham Platner’s exit from the contest earlier this month. Mr. Platner, who won the Democratic nomination in June with more votes than any primary candidate in the history of Maine’s U.S. Senate races, suspended his campaign after being accused of rape by an ex-girlfriend. He denies the accusation. Shortly after Mr. Platner left the Senate race, a host of Democrats announced that they would seek the nomination at a convention of Maine Democrats. Next weekend, 601 Democrats will gather to choose a new Senate nominee, with the first person to receive 301 votes winning the nomination.The delegates for next weekend’s convention were chosen at the county level over the weekend. On Saturday, eight of the state’s 16 counties held meetings to choose who those delegates will be, with Mr. Jackson just a handful of delegates away from becoming the designated candidate, with 289 votes.By the end of the day on Sunday, Mr. Jackson’s slate of delegates had won nearly 382 seats at next weekend’s convention — far more than the 301 needed to clinch the nomination“We’re organized, we’re ready, and we’re going to win. Solidarity forever,” Mr. Jacks wrote in a post on X shortly before delegate candidates at York County cast their ballots on Sunday. Mr. Jackson went on to win 77 of the 84 delegate seats at that county meeting. York County will send the second-highest number of delegates to the convention, with only Cumberland County — home to Portland — sending more. On Saturday, Mr. Jackson’s team had a clean sweep at Cumberland County, taking all 149 delegate seats. He also won all 44 delegate slots at Penobscot County, which will send the third-highest number of delegates to the convention. The number of delegates allocated to each county is determined by how many people cast votes in the 2024 Democratic primaries. Beyond Cumberland and Penobscot Counties, Mr. Jackson fared particularly well at other, smaller, more conservative counties, which also held delegate election meetings on Saturday. At Hancock County, Mr. Jackson’s supporters took 22 of the 23 delegate slots. At Kennebec County, Mr. Jackson’s backers will hold all 40 delegate seats at the convention next weekend. From Androscoggin County, Mr. Jackson’s supporters will hold all but two — 29 out of 31 delegate seats — at the convention.Mr. Jackson was an early supporter of Mr. Platner, with both men having won the endorsement of Senator Bernie Sanders — Mr. Platner for the Senate race, and Mr. Jackson for the gubernatorial primary. Mr. Jackson would go on to come in third place in the gubernatorial election last month. Speaking to supporters on a Zoom call on Saturday, Mr. Jackson was beaming with excitement that he and his team were so close to victory. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that hard, hard work,” Mr. Jackson said. “All of you just smoked it, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

Progressive Troy Jackson Becomes the Presumptive Democratic Nominee in Maine Senate Race

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