Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson wants to revive Maine’s stalled offshore wind ambitions if elected, saying in an interview with the Midcoast Villager that the Waldo County-based project could help lower energy costs and create economic opportunities for generations to come.
Jackson, a former Maine Senate president who helped advance the state’s offshore wind plan before President Donald Trump torpedoed it, said he is increasingly inclined to favor building the port to service offshore wind turbines at Mack Point rather than on nearby Sears Island, the controversial site selected by Gov. Janet Mills’ administration.
“I think I would tend to lean towards that,” Jackson said of Mack Point in an interview with the Villager on Thursday. “More and more people are telling me that Sears Island is something they would rather not do. So get it at Mack Point, even though I guess it could cost more and maybe have some environmental issues.”
Still, he said the final decision should be made closer to the ground: “It’s a local issue that I think should be determined by the people there.”
After a lengthy and contentious review process, the Mills administration determined that state-owned Sears Island would be a better and cheaper place to build the wind port than privately owned Mack Point, about half a mile away and already home to a major oil and gas terminal.
But some environmentalists and local grassroots groups have rallied to stop further development on Sears Island, which has some infrastructure from previous, abandoned port construction projects.
The Trump administration has effectively halted Maine’s offshore wind plans, including the proposed Searsport port that would serve offshore wind development. But Jackson said the groundwork laid during the Biden administration could allow the project to move forward again.
“The roadmap is there,” Jackson said. “We will be doing offshore wind sometime in the future.”
Jackson said he was proud of efforts during his time in the Maine Legislature to bring environmentalists, labor unions and lobstermen together to develop an offshore wind plan that would protect Maine’s fishing grounds, even if lobstermen remain skeptical of the industry.
He argued that offshore wind, combined with a proposed massive wind project in Aroostook County and other renewable energy projects, could make Maine a net energy exporter, generating revenue and lowering electricity costs for residents.
“We’ve got a real chance here with offshore wind and onshore wind to set ourselves up for generations to come,” he said.
In another matter of considerable local interest, Jackson confirmed — with a small caveat — that his son Camden is indeed named after the Midcoast town.
“I want to check with Lana 100%, but I’m almost positive,” Jackson said, explaining that his partner had more say in naming their second son after he took the lead in naming their first, Chace.
Jackson recalled that Camden and Rockport came up during the naming process and that he and Lana liked the area.
The interview came as Jackson and Republican Sen. Susan Collins entered the final days of an extraordinarily close and expensive election.
Jackson continued to criticize Collins over a campaign advertisement featuring longtime Maine television personality Bill Green, who seemed to mock Jackson’s past work as a logger by saying that while Jackson might know how to sell a cord of wood, he “doesn’t have the tools he needs to be effective” in the U.S. Senate.
Collins has distanced herself from the ad’s tone, saying she does not look down on anyone and pointing to her own experience picking potatoes as a young person in Aroostook County. Jackson was unmoved.
“I don’t care how many potatoes she picked when she was a kid,” Jackson said, arguing that Collins and Green were out of touch with the economic struggles of working-class Mainers, including high heating costs. “This election, I mean, it is about a cord of wood right now.”
Jackson also pushed back on Collins’ argument that her seniority and position as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee allow her to deliver federal funding and jobs to Maine.
“What she brings in, I’m not gonna discredit, but it’s a pittance to what we’re losing,” Jackson said, pointing to tariffs on Canadian goods, high fuel prices caused by the Iran War and other Trump policies that he argued are harmful to Mainers.
With Election Day approaching, Jackson predicted an extremely close race that could take until late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning to decide, but said he would be surprised if write-in votes forced a ranked-choice voting tabulation.
“I feel like the enthusiasm is like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” he said.
And Jackson said he hoped to bring that same independent streak to Washington.
“I want to push the Democratic Party because I haven’t always agreed with them,” he said.
Mills, who had been mum on the Senate race since dropping out of the Democratic primary earlier this year, announced Thursday that she had voted early for Jackson and other Democrats.
Jackson and Mills have a somewhat strained relationship, dating back to clashes during their time in state government.
Jackson said he appreciates Mills’ support and noted that they “worked on a lot of things together,” adding that he wants a “big coalition” behind him.
But have Mills and Jackson spoken since he became the Democrats’ replacement nominee after Graham Platner dropped out?
“I mean, I made a call, but we haven’t actually talked,” Jackson said.
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.