Fox News’ Bryan Llenas reports on Maine Democrats strongly supporting Troy Jackson, who is set to become the Senate nominee after Graham Platner's primary victory ended due to rape allegations. The Maine Republican Party criticizes this nomination process, calling it a 'sham.'
BANGOR, Maine – Maine Democrats on Saturday quickly coronated Troy Jackson as their party's Senate nominee — following this month's spectacular implosion of ex-candidate Graham Platner — in the high-stakes Senate showdown with longtime Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
Jackson, a former state Senate president, was elected in a landslide at the Maine Democratic Party's nominating convention in Bangor. He was on a glide path to the nomination after winning the vast majority of the voting delegates chosen last weekend by Democrats in the northern New England state's 16 counties.
Jackson's top rivals in the race to replace Platner backed him after dropping out of the race the past few days, leaving only one long-shot candidate for delegates to also consider at the convention. He defeated Saundra Pelletier, a pharmaceutical company CEO, by a 566-5 margin in Saturday's vote.
The Senate race in Maine, where Collins is the only GOP incumbent running for re-election in a state President Donald Trump lost in the 2024 election, is one of roughly a dozen midterm showdowns across the country that will determine if Republicans hold onto their slim majority or if the Democrats win back control of the chamber.
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Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, arrives at the state Democratic Party's Senate nominating convention, in Bangor, Maine on July 25, 2026 (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News )
"Are you ready to defeat Susan Collins? Well, then let's unite this party. Let's build the largest working class movement Main
