WASHINGTON: The Democratic Party in Maine picked its new candidate for a key US Senate race on Saturday, after the original nominee was pressured to drop out over sexual misconduct allegations.
Delegates to a hastily organised nominating convention picked Troy Jackson, a former state senate president, to go up against Republican incumbent Susan Collins.
‘Thank you, Maine. In 101 days, we will defeat Susan Collins and reclaim our Senate seat. Let’s get to work,’ Jackson wrote on X. The move comes just over two weeks after the prior candidate, Graham Platner, dropped out.
A Marine veteran, oyster fisherman and political newcomer, Platner had earlier won the Democratic primary with an energetic, anti-establishment message that gained him national prominence.
He weathered earlier scandals, including one related to a Nazi-linked tattoo, but his support plummeted after a formerpartner publicly accused him of rape. Platner, 41, strongly denied the allegation, but ultimately acceded to demands from across the party to drop out, just before a legal deadline allowing for a replacement.
Unlike Platner, 58-year-old Jackson has been in Maine politics for de cades, beginning in the state House and ultimately becoming the topranked senator.
His nomination as the Democratic candidate for the US Senate comes despite his loss in the Democratic primary for governor. A logger by trade, Jackson grew up on the border of Frenchspeaking Canada.
‘Troy Jackson is a fifthgeneration logger with a demonstrated ability to win,’ top Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand said in a statement.
Media coverage has highlighted Jackson’s prior conservative stances, such as opposition to abortion, that he has since walked back.-AFP