Along the fence of a highway bridge in Maryland was a sign: “Flip the Senate! Send $ to Troy Jackson in Maine.”
A photo of the sign made the rounds on Facebook on Tuesday, two days after the former Maine Senate president was nominated to replace scandal-plagued Graham Platner at a Democratic convention, capturing a wave of momentum behind his campaign to oust five-term Republican Susan Collins.
Just two days after Jackson’s nomination, ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising platform, listed the former Allagash logger among its trending Senate campaigns and top fundraisers alongside other frontline Senate candidates, including incumbent Jon Ossoff of Georgia, who is getting buzz as a potential 2028 presidential candidate.
While Republican Sen. Susan Collins and allied groups have more cash and reserved more than double the amount Democrats booked in ads through November, Jackson and his rapidly organized campaign is showing signs of momentum, with state and national Democrats rallying behind him to help blunt the wide fundraising gap.
“People are obviously furious about the direction Republicans have taken the country,” Christyna Thompson, a spokesperson for the leadership-tied Senate Majority PAC, said in an interview. “When you see these small dollar donations, that is a clear sign of where the pendulum is swinging.”
Thompson and the Jackson campaign cited 30,000 new donors and $2 million raised since Saturday’s convention. Every contribution is “a vote of confidence in the working-class movement we’re building together,” Jackson said in a statement.
The quick haul puts the former state Senate president, who was not known as a strong fundraiser and came in third in Democrats’ gubernatorial primary last month, in good company when it comes to building war chests.
Ossoff, a top target for President Donald Trump and Republicans, raised a whopping $81 million this cycle by mid-July as he looks to fend off a challenge from U.S. Rep. Mike Collins. Talarico, who faces scandal-plagued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has raised more than $70 million, including more than $30 million between April and the end of June. Brown and Al-Sayed raised about $17 million and $4.5 million, respectively, in the second quarter.
Jackson still has plenty of catching up to do. AdImpact projects Maine’s U.S. Senate race to generate almost $400 million in ad spending. That’s fourth-most in the country behind Texas, Georgia and Michigan. Collins-aligned groups have reserved almost $116 million in ads through November, compared to Democrats’ roughly $57 million.
Platner had only about $1.7 million left on hand when he dropped out after losing support following an ex-girlfriend’s rape accusation in Politico. The Democrats’ Senate campaign arm said before Jackson was nominated that it was “fully committed” to helping the eventual nominee win.
The group, which listed Collins among top targets in a thread on X Monday night, launched a fund after Platner’s exit which will transfer to Jackson, but it remains unclear how much it raised. Spokespeople did not respond to questions about that on Tuesday.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee said in a memo Sunday that “Jackson is fully capable of winning this seat if we become complacent.” But Collins’ team continues to express confidence heading into November.
Her campaign released a new ad Tuesday highlighting her work on national security reforms after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Paycheck Protection Program during the pandemic, and work on the lobster industry, health care, Social Security benefits and her powerful role as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“While our opponent begins a 100-day campaign focused on politics, Senator Collins continues the work she has been doing every day since Mainers first elected her to the Senate,” Shawn Roderick, a Collins spokesperson, said in a statement. “This election presents a clear choice between experience and uncertainty, between proven leadership and political turmoil.”
Jackson and the Democrats, meanwhile, aim to link Collins to Trump’s agenda, which they say has undercut working families at the expense of the wealthy and corporations, and restricted access to abortion and health care.
Senate Majority PAC is likely to invest further in Maine in the coming weeks. Affordable Maine, a Democratic dark-money group affiliated with Senate Majority PAC, criticized Collins in ads the day before Jackson’s nomination, including one that reminded voters of the senator’s 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.