LEWISTON, Maine — Democrat Troy Jackson held the first town hall of his rapidly assembled campaign to challenge five-term Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins on Tuesday, delivering a working-class message as he aims to rally rank-and-file Democrats.
“There are more people out there looking for a better government than people who are holding us back,” Jackson told a packed crowd of almost 400 at the Franco Center in Lewiston after sharing stories about his upbringing in a logging family.
He cited unaffordable groceries, housing and healthcare, and curtailed abortion rights under the Trump administration. He accused Collins, despite her powerful position as the Senate Appropriations Committee chair, of failing to check President Donald Trump, whom he described as a “total narcissist” putting “democracy at risk.”
“I see people standing up and fighting for a better government,” he said, speaking next to an empty chair he said was meant for an invited Collins. “It is time for a change.”
The former Maine Senate president from Allagash came in third in the Democrats’ gubernatorial primary. His previously close ties to Graham Platner, whose populist campaign collapsed after an ex-girlfriend accused him of rape, helped him rally labor supporters, organizers, progressives and local Democratic leaders across the state to replace Platner on the ballot.
Most of the questions were friendly territory for Jackson, giving him a chance to address a host of pivotal issues he’s hammered on since his campaign began. But the final questioner of the night called his ads disingenuous, accusing him of feeding off a political movement that was built by Platner and his supporters, not Jackson.
“This isn’t about Troy Jackson,” he responded. “I don’t even think it’s about Graham. It’s about people around this state that know there’s something fundamentally wrong.”
The response drew strong applause after the question prompted a few surprised expressions over a hushed crowd.
Jackson also addressed Trump Cabinet nominees, whom he described as “sycophants,” the advancement of AI and surveillance technology, which he said needs more federal regulation, and immigration enforcement. He said ICE agents murdered Johan Sebastián Duran Guerrero in Biddeford in July and neither Trump nor Collins “can walk away” from that because of funding for an agency he said must be eliminated.
Asked whether he had a strategy to convert Trump voters, Jackson cited his track record of success in rural, conservative regions. Democrats “have a lot of work to do to bring working-class people back into the fold,” he said, but “you have to be someone who gives a s— about people.”
The questions were submitted by attendees just before the town hall began. The guests received tickets that Jackson later plucked out of a hardhat and called out so the questioner could stand and engage with Jackson.
Collins and her allies have painted Jackson as an Augusta insider during a time of heavy costs in Maine. Republicans also highlight Jackson’s ties to Platner and behavior they say shows he was abrasive with women and former colleagues, which Jackson has brushed off by noting he’s passionate on the issues but has never been violent.
As Democrats have argued for several years, Jackson reminded the crowd that Collins hadn’t held a town hall in more than two decades. He argued she’d “lost touch” with the struggles Mainers face and “forgotten who she’s fighting for.”
The event came as both campaigns are needling each other over debates, with Collins agreeing to four and Jackson not yet committing as he’s calling for at least two of them to be town-hall style with questions from voters.
Collins has held several official events while also making stops on her campaign bus tour. The senator met with Bath Iron Works workers Tuesday morning, more than 100 of whom signed a letter of support for the senator crediting her for bringing in billions of dollars in Navy contracts to the yard. Their national union backs Jackson, though the local one has not endorsed.
Blake Kernen, a Collins campaign spokesperson, accused Jackson of playing political games over town halls and being “afraid” of appearing at the televised debate.
“Senator Collins … meets with thousands of Mainers every year, at events and in meetings across the state, where they can ask her questions directly,” she said.