Democrats have a lot of hard work to do if they’re going to beat Susan Collins. And now they have a nominee, Troy Jackson, who is the consensus choice of supporters of both Janet Mills and Graham Platner.
Jackson brings an authenticity rooted in his experiences as a fifth generation logger drawn to politics.
I was lucky to attend the Maine Democratic state nominating convention as an alternate. The energy there was palpable.
Because I wasn’t a delegate, I couldn’t vote, but I talked to lots of people and saw Jackson’s two speeches, one after he was nominated and the other after the convention’s vote was announced.
These were touching. Yes, a lot of candidates say things like “this is the honor of my lifetime” when they accept a nomination, but Jackson looked truly moved.
In telling the crowd that, as a child he couldn’t have imagined being a Senate nominee, that’s certainly the case. His mother was 16 when he was born, grew up in a tiny rural town1 and went to work in the woods right after high school.
Jackson in the Allagash High School yearbook, 1986 (via Wikipedia)
Troy Jackson told his origin story, his account of how and what drew him into politics.
It’s worth paying attention to because it permeates his career and this campaign.
When Troy Jackson became politically empowered
After saying he recognized that people’s “trust has to be earned,” Jackson turned to telling his tale.2
As a logger, he “spent years doing dangerous work for long hours and most of the time without health insurance,” like “everyone that’s in that profession.” And while he and others “tried to take care of our families,” they were exploited.
What transformed Troy Jackson was realizing that doing what he was told did not serve him or others, and then taking action
“We did follow the rules, but the harder we worked, the more that the companies took from us. And that literally was their mantra. We’ll make you more productive so we can cut your rate. And the further behind that we would fall, and when we spoke up, nobody, nobody listened. You know, they wanted us, they expected us to accept that. You know, just keep your head down. You know, be grateful for the little scraps that you’re given. And, and, you know, we weren’t, you know, and that’s why we got together and organized, and why we stood together and why we ended up having to blockade the border. And we made them listen to the real reality of what was going on.
And that fight opened my eyes. It changed my life. I mean, I went from somebody that didn’t want to get out of line, was told not to get out of line to where now I understand that you have to get out of line because the people in power are keeping us there. And so it, it really did teach me that working people, despite all of our challenges, are not powerless. You know, we’re only made to feel powerless when we stand alone, and that is what they try and do is divide us.
And that’s why I entered public life, you know, fought for working people in the legislature and in the Maine Senate. And that’s why I’m running for the United States Senate today. Because the same thing that happened to us as loggers that I worked beside is happening all across the state and all across this country to working people.”
After telling the story of how he stopped being a guy who wouldn’t challenge the powerful to one who does now, Jackson transitioned into discussing people’s struggles today, and then to pointed criticisms of Susan Collins.
“So I do have one question. Who has [Collins] served?
She has served Donald Trump. She voted with him 96% of the time. She helped him. She helped deliver enormous tax breaks to the corporations and the wealthy on our backs, and she voted to confirm Kavanaugh and Gorsuch, the Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe versus Wade. She has served the billionaires and corporations that fund her campaigns, and they’ve spent millions to keep her in Washington. And in return, she’s voted for historic breaks, tax breaks for the people at the top while working families are left paying the bill. And when Mainers needed her the most, the most, she has served herself. Collins is now worth millions, and she still refuses to support a ban on members of Congress trading stocks. I mean, that is the ultimate.”
Needless to say, this is not the picture of Susan Collins she’s carefully crafted.
Collins has tried to separate herself from Trump, touting grants to Maine that don’t make up for the huge cuts she helped pass.
But Jackson’s message wasn’t just about him or Collins. It was also about all Mainers and how they can be agents of their own fates.
Jackson: I’ve been empowered and now you can be, too.
After talking about his origin story and how he’s been underestimated, Jackson called on Mainers to cast aside the same feelings of disempowerment that once held him back.
“So if you’ve ever been ignored, underestimated, pushed around, or told that you have to wait your turn while the rich cut the line I’m asking you to stand with us in this campaign. If you believe in your heart that healthcare is a right, stand with us. And if you believe that workers deserve power, stand with us. And if you believe our freedoms are worth defending, stand with us. And if you believe that Maine deserves a senator who will fight like hell for working class people. Well, stand with us. We have a party to unite. We have a movement to build, and we have a senator to defeat, and together we are going to win. I can’t. I can’t thank you anymore. My, my, I am so inspired by all of you. God bless you and let’s get to work winning this race.”
With this speech, Troy Jackson broadened his story to take in so many more.
What comes next
Now, a lot will happen in this campaign and Republicans are already embarked on attacking Jackson with a host of contradictory, negative messages. (For example, they want to say he’s a cozy insider who’s also a radical.)
But this was a great start for Jackson, with a theme he should continue to expound and expand. Let’s hear more about his experiences and how they changed him, on issues like abortion rights and gay rights.
Jackson’s authentic journey of transformation and growth is inspiring and humanizes him, and should continue to be a key prong of this campaign.
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Troy Jackson was born in 1968. Per the U.S. Census, in 1970 there were 456 residents of Allagash. In the most recent Census (2020), Allagash’s population was just 237 individuals.
His mother told a reporter another story of Jackson’s even earlier political interest in injustice. As reporters for The Maine Monitor recounted, “In second grade, Jackson came home and informed his mother he was going to write to then-President Jimmy Carter to inform him that a disabled student in his class was not being treated properly.”
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