Politics
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Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Troy Jackson is launching a series of town halls this week while challenging U.S. Sen. Susan Collins over not holding them for more than two decades, hitting on a common attack Democrats have deployed during previous unsuccessful attempts to oust the longtime senator.
With town halls planned Tuesday in Lewiston, Thursday in Gorham and Saturday in Jay, Jackson says he invited Collins last week to turn up at any of the events and take questions alongside him from Maine voters.
The former Allagash logger and state Senate president said over the weekend that his first town hall in Lewiston will be “one more than Susan Collins has done in the last 25 years.” Collins, whose team has said she prefers small-group meetings with constituents as opposed to town halls, has accepted four televised debates this fall. Jackson has countered by calling for two town hall-style forums.
“We’re definitely excited about the debates,” he told MSNOW. “We want two of these debates to be town-hall style so that people across Maine can have an opportunity to have their questions answered.”
Jackson’s push revisits a familiar theme going back at least to 2017, when Ellsworth constituents wrote to the Bangor Daily News and pressed Collins to hold a recess town hall. Democrats made the same argument in ads and events during Collins’ reelection bid against former Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon in 2020. Last year, the senator and moderate Democratic U.S. Rep. Jared Golden were targeted by activists who organized “empty chair” events framed around pressuring defiance against the Trump administration, the same issue that sparked similar calls for town halls in 2017.
But it remains to be seen how open Jackson’s events will be, and whether his point on town halls will stick with voters, even in a year expected to be tough for Republicans nationwide as they look to hold the Senate and House. Before any debates, Collins has a fundraising advantage as the candidates and supporting PACs are on the airwaves with ads in a race expected to generate almost $400 million in ad spending.
“In 2020, Sara Gideon staged a whole series of fake town halls,” Lance Dutson, a Republican strategist who previously worked for Collins, said Monday. “It’s theatrics. [Collins] comes back to Maine every single weekend, meeting with constituents, talking to businesses. The notion she’s hiding from people is just a contrivance out of the Democratic D.C. playbook that people have tried.”
Asked if the argument from Jackson and Democrats could be more impactful in a tougher environment for the GOP, Dutson said there are “plenty of issues that are tricky in this election year,” but Collins’ “format” of communication with voters isn’t one of them.
Collins campaign spokesperson Blake Kernen said “it’s about time Troy Jackson starts answering questions from voters since he has a lot to answer for.”
She said that he’s arguing the “status quo isn’t working” even though “he spent more than two decades in Augusta.”
“Rather than playing political games about town halls, Troy Jackson should explain what he accomplished during all those years in power to make life more affordable for Maine families,” she said. She added that the senator meets thousands of Mainers at events and meetings every year, and asked what he’s “afraid of” after not yet agreeing to four televised debates.
Jackson campaign spokesman Dan Gottlieb said the campaign wasn’t “holding our breath” after inviting Collins to appear at town halls.
“Susan Collins doesn’t want to answer for voting with Donald Trump 96% of the time, abandoning reproductive freedom, and making life more expensive for working Mainers,” he said. “Troy will be there answering directly to Maine voters. She should be, too.”
Some Jackson events have private addresses that are only available after registration, an increasingly common tactic by campaigns of both major parties.
By leaning into town halls, Jackson takes a cue from Graham Platner, the scandal-plagued populist he replaced on the ballot after a rape allegation forced him out of the race.
In a grassroots campaign that effectively booted Gov. Janet Mills from the primary, Platner held more than 80 town halls across Maine, drawing big crowds with an anti-establishment message. The oyster farmer and military veteran often fielded pointed questions about his offensive Reddit comments widely criticised as victim-blaming sexual assault survivors, his Nazi-linked tattoo, and comparisons to him and U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania.
Collins throughout August has made several official visits along with tightly scheduled events on her campaign bus tour. Jackson has also held several controlled events such as a lobster bake, a union shop tour, office openings and a meet-and-greet at a Portland bar.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the last name of Collins spokesperson Blake Kernen.