Maine's US Senate race has been shaken up after Graham Platner dropped out, leaving Democrats searching for a candidate who can connect with working-class, inland, and rural voters.
One name stands out: Troy Jackson.
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Jackson, a fifth-generation logger and union member from Fort Kent, has spent his life fighting for working people.
He led a union logging blockade in 1998 to prevent Canadian scabs from taking Maine jobs, putting him on the front lines of globalization's impact on rural communities.
As a former state legislator and longtime labor Democrat, Jackson embodies the New Deal tradition.
In 2016, he was one of the few Democratic superdelegates to support Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton, and he has consistently championed progressive economic policies.
Known affectionately as "Johnny Cash from Allagash," Jackson has fought multinational corporations and their government allies.
He speaks from experience about the humiliation of powerlessness and the loss of pride when big employers offshore work or close mills.
Maine is a working-class state, with only 36% of residents holding a college degree, concentrated mostly in coastal Portland.
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In Jackson's rural St. John valley district, that figure drops to about 25%.
Despite the region's rightward drift, Jackson has won election after election since 2002, including a 2022 state senate victory with 52.5% of the vote—impressive in an area Donald Trump won by double digits in 2024.
