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Troy Jackson tells Susan Collins to 'shut up' during heated ...
PORTLAND, Maine (AP): Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson told Republican Sen. Susan Collins to “shut up” during a heated final Maine U.S.
Updated Oct 16, 2026, 2:28 PM ET
Troy Jackson, a logger who presided over the Maine Senate from 2018 to 2024, is the Democratic nominee challenging Republican Susan Collins in Maine's 2026 Senate election.
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Troy Jackson tells Susan Collins to 'shut up' during heated Maine Senate debate
PORTLAND, Maine – Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson told Republican Sen. Susan Collins to “shut up” during a heated final Maine U.S. Senate debate that also included an interruption from a data center protester.
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Troy Jackson tells Susan Collins to 'shut up' during Maine debate
PORTLAND, Maine (AP): Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson told Republican Sen. Susan Collins to “shut up” during a heated final Maine U.S.
Associated Press
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Troy Jackson raises $20.4M in a furious Maine Senate campaign ramp-up
Maine news, sports, politics, election results, and obituaries
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Who is Lana Pelletier? Troy Jackson’s Partner Reportedly His Second Cousin
Jackson is a fifth-generation logger from Allagash in northern Maine and a former president of the Maine Senate.
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Trump boasts about cognitive test results at Arizona rally
Republican Sen. Susan Collins further distanced herself from President Donald Trump in the Maine Senate debate against Democrat Troy Jackson on Tuesday.
More coverage 3
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Speaker Johnson dismisses skeptics as he campaigns for House GOP in Maine battleground
While much of the attention in Maine has been on the state's volatile Senate race between incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson, the House race for the open seat held by retiring Democratic Rep.
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Union leader quoted in Maine Senate attack ad sends ‘cease and desist’ to GOP PAC
Lawyers for a New York-based union leader have sent a letter demanding that the Republican super PAC Senate Leadership Fund “immediately cease and desist” from airing or broadcasting an ad that features a quote from him…
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Jackson Faces Campaign Finance Disclosure Pressure in Maine Senate Race
Democratic hopeful Troy Jackson is facing pressure to disclose his campaign donors in the Maine Senate race, with early voting now underway in the key midterm battle.
No story this week names this candidate.
- Born
- June 26, 1968
- Birthplace
- Fort Kent, Maine
- Education
- Allagash Consolidated School
University of Maine at Fort Kent (Associate of Arts in business)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Troy Dale Jackson, the son of a teacher and a logger, was born in Fort Kent, Maine, close to the Canadian border, on June 26, 1968, and grew up in a Catholic household in Allagash.
After attending Allagash Consolidated School, he completed a business associate degree at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. At 19 he started logging, the fifth generation of his family in the trade.
In 1998 he helped organize a week-long blockade at three crossings on the Maine–Canada border, objecting to the hiring of temporary Canadian workers over Maine loggers; the episode led him into electoral politics.
Career
Running as a Republican, Jackson lost a 2000 contest for a seat in the Maine House of Representatives; he won that seat as an independent in 2002 and became a Democrat in 2004.
After three House terms, which included two terms as chair of the Fisheries and Wildlife Committee, he won election to the Maine Senate in 2008 and served there until 2014, becoming majority leader in July 2013.
In 2014 he sought the Democratic nomination in Maine's 2nd congressional district and lost the primary to Emily Cain. Returning to the state Senate in 2016, he was chosen minority leader; from 2018 until term limits ended his tenure in 2024, he was both Senate president and majority leader.
His legislation in that period covered prescription drug costs, universal free school meals and child care subsidies. In the 2026 Democratic primary for governor, held under ranked-choice rules, he placed third with 29% of the vote.
2026 race
Jackson is the Democratic nominee against Republican Senator Susan Collins, who is seeking a sixth term in an election decided by ranked-choice voting. Graham Platner won the June 9 Democratic primary but left the race on July 10 after accusations of sexual assault.
Jackson announced his candidacy on July 8, and his supporters won 456 of 500 delegate seats at county caucuses on July 18 and 19. At the special party convention on July 25, 2026, he defeated healthcare executive Saundra Pelletier by 566 votes to 5.