July 19 (UPI) — A majority of delegates have committed to voting for Troy Jackson to give him the Democratic nomination, replacing the beleaguered Graham Platner in Maine’s U.S. Senate race.
While Jackson’s nomination isn’t official — the Democratic Party is set to hold its U.S. Senate nominating convention Saturday — his name dominated county-level meetings this weekend, Politico reported. The swing in his favor led Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows to drop out of the race Sunday.
The Washington Post reported that 600 delegates will vote on the nominee at Saturday’s convention in Bangor.
Maine Democrats have been scrambling to find a replacement for Platner after he dropped out of the race earlier this month under pressure from those who previously endorsed him. A former partner of his accused him of sexually assaulting her while he was drunk, an allegation he has denied.
Whoever gets the Democratic nomination will face incumbent Sen. Susan Collins. The Republican has won election to the U.S. Senate five times prior, and if a Democrat unseats her, it could put control of the upper chamber within Democrats’ reach.
Jackson, 58, ran earlier this year for the gubernatorial nomination, but lost out to Hannah Pingree. She will face Republican Bobby Charles and Independent Richard Bennett in the general election.
Jackson adjusted his gubernatorial campaign for the Senate race, facing Bellows and Nirav Shah, who also lost out in the gubernatorial primary.
In a video statement to supporters on Facebook, Jackson said he was surprised at his success in the Senate race.
“I’ve been getting text messages all day about, you know, what a great job I did, and I didn’t do a [expletive] thing,” he said. “All of you just smoked it.”
