**Graham Platner’s implosion in the Maine Senate race left Democrats with an amiable, soft-spoken logger. **Can voters handle this kind of seismic vibe shift… with control of the Senate on the line?
On paper, Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson isn’t all that different from Graham Platner, the charismatic and once-promising oysterman whose campaign collapsed in a series of messy scandals. They’re both staunch progressives who have spent their lives in Maine. They’re gruff, deep-voiced men who dislike the Democratic establishment. And they both tout themselves as defenders of the working class.
But Jackson’s vibe is…
verydifferent. Jackson lacks the media-savvy, glad-handing progressive icon mojo that his predecessor had in buckets, before his fall from grace. In an interview with theWhat A Daypodcast today, Jackson spoke softly and answered questions without using pre-packaged slogans. A fifth-generation logger from northern Maine, Jackson spoke with a thick-as-lumber Canadian-ish accent, pronouncing “about” as*“aboat”dozens of times. He gives off intensenormal guy energy…*the kind of normal guy who just woke up to find himself one of Democrats’ best chances to defeat Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and regain control of the Senate. Because that’s basically what happened.
Jackson admits that some voters take issue with his style, as Republicans spend astronomical amounts of money to defeat him.
At a recent meeting with voters, some asked why he isn’t attacking Collins more aggressively: “People [wanted] to know why I wasn’t going harder on Senator Collins,” Jackson told Crooked’s Jane Coaston.
Collins, however, hasn’t exactly been holding back: “She’s running around with Elon Musk, spending all kinds of money going after me personally and going after my family personally,” Jackson added.
Jackson actually has a good shot at beating Collins, according to polling.
Platner supporters appear to have swiftly migrated over to Jackson’s side. Four
recent polls showthe logger up by as much as 8 points against Collins.
The GOP is sweating. Republican groups have already spent $30 million more than Democrats on attacking Jackson,
according to recent data. Senate Republicans’ campaign armpledged todole out more than $42 million against him. Musk’s super PAC alsoplans todump money into the race to support Collins.
“Troy Jackson is like Graham Platner, but worse,” the narrator
▶warns in one adbacked by Senate Republicans, which has racked up millions of views on YouTube.
Collins, meanwhile, has spent the past few months trying to convince voters that she’s willing to stand up to the Trump administration (
seriously, believe me this time, guys!), advocating for ICE agents to wear body cameras after a deadly shooting in the state and voting to reign in the president’s war on Iran. Asked if she believes Trump is unfit for office, Collinstold Politicothat she wanted Nikki Haley to win the presidency.
Jackson hopes voters don’t buy her schtick. “On one hand, she acts like she’s the most powerful U.S. senator in the country. On the other hand, she acts like, well, nothing I could do,” he said. “That is absolutely crap.”
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