AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Maine Democrats have a new candidate for a key U.S. Senate race. Yesterday, the state party nominated Troy Jackson to replace Graham Platner on the November ballot. Platner withdrew from the race earlier this month after a series of scandals. Jackson, a logger and former president of the Maine Senate, was overwhelmingly chosen at a rare nominating convention. He'll take on Republican Senator Susan Collins in a contest that could determine control of the U.S. Senate next year. Steve Mistler from member station Maine Public is here to tell us more about Jackson and the race ahead. Good morning, Steve.
STEVE MISTLER, BYLINE: Good morning.
RASCOE: So tell us a bit about Troy Jackson. Like, who is he?
MISTLER: Well, Jackson's been involved in Maine politics for more than two decades, all of it in the state legislature. He launched his political career in 2000 after making a name for himself when he and other loggers blockaded a border crossing in - with Canada in 1998, basically to protest the use of Canadian woodcutters in the vast timberlands around his house in Allagash. It was basically a labor dispute, but it made a lot of news here because it drew attention to the practices of paper companies and land owners who have been really influential in state politics here for decades. And it was a worker versus corporation story, and that's been Troy Jackson's political narrative from the get-go. That narrative has a particular salience now.
RASCOE: Well, how so?
MISTLER: Well, because Democrats are really trying to draw this contrast between the Trump administration's coziness with wealthy interests and the conditions of ordinary Americans. And it's a direct play into the affordability case Democrats want to make during the midterms amid rising gas prices, inflation, you name it. And Jackson can credibly talk about those struggles because he comes from a poor, rural family that struggled to get by. I mean, his mom dropped out of high school when she became pregnant with him, and he's talked frequently about that experience growing up with little means.
RASCOE: Well, that's interesting because, I mean, didn't Graham Platner run as a progressive working-class candidate, a, you know, combat veteran, oyster farmer?
MISTLER: Yeah. He did. But there have been some efforts to discredit Platner's origin story because he went to a prep school and his parents have some means, but it'll be a lot harder for Republicans to take that tack with Jackson.
RASCOE: So why didn't Jackson run for the U.S. Senate to begin with?
MISTLER: Well, it's because he wanted to run for governor, and he was one of five Democrats who vied for the party's nomination in June, but he finished third in that contest. And now he's being asked to assemble a campaign for the U.S. Senate against Collins, who's this electoral stalwart in the state currently dominated by Democrats.
RASCOE: So Democrats have chosen a Senate candidate who just finished third in the gubernatorial primary?
MISTLER: That's right. But I think Democrats gravitated to Jackson because they believe this working-class populism is where the energy is in the party. And Platner had really tapped into that, basically embracing the platform of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who's very popular here. And Jackson isn't as charismatic as Platner, but he can certainly give a fiery speech, and he's already framing Collins as a politician beholden to Trump and wealthy interests.
RASCOE: Well, what is Susan Collins saying about Jackson as - becoming the nominee?
MISTLER: Well, her campaign released a statement saying Jackson was basically handpicked by party insiders. And she also took aim at Jackson's platform, which includes Medicare for all, saying low- and middle-income Mainers would foot the bill for that. The statement was a little bit gentler than what the Republican National Committee said, which is that Jackson is a, quote, "Bernie Bro and wants to shove socialism down the throats of Maine voters."
RASCOE: That's Steve Mistler of Maine Public Radio. Thanks so much.
MISTLER: My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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