BANGOR, Maine – Troy Jackson accepted the Democratic nomination for Maine’s U.S. Senate race on Saturday with no point out of Israel, sidestepping a problem that has turn into a focus for a lot of Maine Jews as they assess the celebration’s new standard-bearer.
Jackson secured the nomination in a landslide 566 to five vote by delegates on the nominating conference. Saundra Pelletier, the one remaining challenger after the remainder of the sphere dropped out within the days main as much as the gathering, picked up the handful of votes that didn’t go to the winner.
Whereas Jackson took a number of photographs throughout his acceptance deal with at Sen. Susan Collins, the incumbent Republican he’ll now face within the common election, it was Pelletier who used her remarks to particularly malign Collins’ voting report on Israel.
“She voted to extend federal funding in defensive arms for Iran, and didn’t vote to take average measures to carry Netanyahu accountable,” Pelletier stated, receiving a refrain from the group.
The victory for Jackson got here after the state’s former Democratic nominee, Graham Platner, a staunch Israel critic, left the race earlier this month amid a sexual assault allegation, which he has denied. The ensuing scramble to switch him upended the Democratic main and prompted recent scrutiny from Jewish Mainers of Jackson’s current evolution on Israel.
Supporters cheer for Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee for the Maine U.S. Senate race, on July 25, 2026 in Bangor, Maine. (Grace Gilson)
Jackson, a former state lawmaker and union advocate, had beforehand stated little publicly in regards to the Israeli-Palestinian battle throughout his two-decade profession in state legislature. Nonetheless, in the course of the race to switch Platner, he has embraced the time period “genocide” to explain Israel’s battle in Gaza and referred to as for an finish to U.S. navy support to Israel on his marketing campaign web site, each positions championed by Platner earlier than his exit. Jackson additionally has stated he wouldn’t settle for any funding from AIPAC.
However on Saturday, as a sea of supporters sporting his marketing campaign’s blue and yellow “Troy Jackson” t-shirts cheered their new nominee, Jackson omitted any point out of Israel from his remarks. As an alternative, Jackson reaffirmed his commitments to passing Medicare for all, supporting union rights and restoring abortion rights nationwide, amongst different points.
Throughout his deal with following the decisive victory, Jackson additionally provided a message to Maine voters who stay on the fence:
“Whether or not you supported me from the start, supported one other candidate, or are nonetheless deciding what you consider this fifth-generation logger from Allagash,” Jackson stated. “I’ve all the time identified this, that your belief needs to be earned, and so I need you to listen to this immediately from me. There’s a place on this marketing campaign for all of you. There’s be just right for you on this motion, and I’ll spend day-after-day, now via November, incomes that belief as a result of at this time we flip the web page.”
Amy Fried, an alternate Maine Democratic delegate, on July 25, 2026, in Bangor, Maine. (Grace Gilson)
Amy Fried, a professor emerita of political science on the College of Maine who attended Saturday’s convention as an alternate delegate however didn’t forged a poll, stated that whereas she believed Jackson had addressed Israel within the lead-up to Saturday as a result of “lots of people have an interest within the subject,” his speech mirrored the problems he had been “involved about his entire political profession.”
“Clearly, he’d must take votes on international coverage and funding when he’s within the Senate,” Fried stated. “However I feel that his foremost curiosity is all the time in points that must do with housing and healthcare, , the entire issues which can be type of extra day-to-day kitchen desk points.”
Whereas Jackson averted revisiting his current stances on Israel, which have raised concern amongst some Jewish voters in Maine, a couple of dozen pro-Palestinian protesters rallied exterior the conference corridor in help of his candidacy.
“It’s a very optimistic step that you’ve nominated Troy Jackson,” one protester shouted via a megaphone. “I feel he’s going to be a robust voice for the type of values that I consider in and the individuals of Palestine, the kids of Iran, and all the opposite locations the U.S. bombed.”
Professional-Palestinian protesters show exterior of the Maine Democratic nominating conference on July 25, 2026, in Bangor, Maine. (Grace Gilson)
Ronna Lugosch, a 71-year-old Jewish grandmother and delegate from Spherical Pond, Maine, stated that she was “extra excited now than I used to be earlier than” about Jackson’s candidacy.
Lugosch, who helps Jackson’s stances on Israel, stated she hadn’t observed he had left the subject out of his remarks. “Sadly, it’s a delicate subject, in order that’s my guess that possibly he didn’t convey that up as a result of it was simply an excessive amount of,” Lugosch stated. “You already know, he was being cautious.”
Nonetheless, Lugosch stated that she was “actually impressed with all his feedback about working individuals and organizing.”
“I’m going to marketing campaign for him as a result of we have to eliminate Susan Collins,” Lugosch stated. “Earlier than it was extra of a type of a defensive stance, however now I’m supportive, and so I really feel higher about going out into the neighborhood.”
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