Politics
Our political journalists are based in the Maine State House and have deep source networks across the partisan spectrum in communities all over the state. Their coverage aims to cut through major debates and probe how officials make decisions. Read more Politics coverage here.
CNN and the Bangor Daily News have canceled Thursday’s scheduled Democratic U.S. Senate debate following former Maine Senate Troy Jackson’s consolidation of delegates and the exit of several rivals.
Jackson’s supporters won more than 450 of the 500 delegate slots up for grabs through this weekend’s county caucuses, a show of force that compelled top rivals — former Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, former congressional aide Jordan Wood and brewery owner Dan Kleban — to end their campaigns and back Jackson.
The debate would have come less than two days before delegates gathered for the July 25 state convention in Bangor. That event now looks like it will be a coronation for Jackson.
He now faces a high-profile showdown with U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a five-term Republican, in one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.