Troy Jackson emerges as potential frontrunner to replace Platner in Maine Senate race

Jackson is a logger who previously served as president of the state senate.

Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson appears all but certain to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee for Senate in the party's bid to unseat Republican incumbent Susan Collins this November.

Jackson's campaign said Monday that "it is turning its full focus toward defeating Senator Susan Collins," citing a "decisive advantage" during recent county-level caucuses.

Jackson, who comes from a logging family not far from the Quebec border, is a familiar face to Maine voters due to his history of activism and his lengthy background as a state lawmaker in Augusta.

His campaign's statement also came after an eventful Sunday for Maine politics as four other Democrats dropped out of the running: Dan Kleban, Shenna Bellows and Nirav Shah and Jordan Wood.

"We are suspending our campaign tonight. This is the conclusion of the caucuses and letting this process play out," Wood, the former chief of staff to Katie Porter when she served as a congresswoman representing California, said in a selfie-style video posted to social media on Sunday evening.

"I'm so proud to endorse my friend Troy Jackson. I didn't know Troy until over a year ago when I decided to run for office for the first time, but he has become a friend, someone I trust, someone that I know represents and will serve all people in Maine," Wood added.

Shah and Kleban, like Wood, also endorsed Jackson. Bellows did not mention Jackson when suspending her Senate campaign.

Maine Democrats held county-level nomination meetings over the weekend in order to select delegates ahead of their party's Senate nominating convention set for this coming Saturday, July 25.

While the Maine Democratic Party's website lists that eight candidates remain in the race to replace Platner, including former primary candidate David Costello and activist Ashley Webb, delegates who expressed support for Jackson received overwhelming support at the nomination meetings and the candidates who withdrew Sunday were previously viewed as Jackson's main rivals.

Jackson's campaign said that 481 of 500 county delegates support his candidacy. A total of 601 delegates will participate in the July 25 convention, with the additional 101 delegates being members of the Maine Democratic State Committee.

Just over six weeks ago, Jackson stood in front of a crowd in a Bar Harbor theater to ask Mainers to support his own bid for governor (a race he lost) and to vote for Platner in the Democratic Senate primary.

But after Platner was accused earlier this month of sexual assault by a former girlfriend, an allegation he's denied, Jackson joined calls for him to exit the race. Platner formally withdrew his candidacy on July 10.

Now, in nearly a week, Maine voters should know for certain whether Jackson will officially be the Democrats' pick to try to flip the high-profile Senate seat.

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