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After upsetting U.S. Sen. Susan Collins on Tuesday in a historic Democratic takeover of Congress, Sen-elect Troy Jackson must rapidly build a transition team before taking office in early January.
The former logger from Allagash and Maine Senate president is no stranger to a quick turnaround. His Senate bid rose from the ashes of a third-place gubernatorial run after oyster farmer Graham Platner’s campaign collapsed in scandal. Jackson charged through a 100-day, 100-plus event campaign to topple Maine’s most powerful political figure.
Organizers who helped Jackson’s rise to Capitol Hill say they expect to be involved in continuing conversations with the senator-elect’s team over the next two months and beyond. Former staffers for Maine’s federal officials say they expect a whirlwind of moves to prepare Jackson for the transition and enable him to help constituents as quickly as possible.
“People expect their senators to be fully functional, and there’s 400 things you have to do in a fairly short, intense period, and none of them are easy,” Kay Rand, the longtime chief of staff for independent U.S. Sen. Angus King in his current office and as Maine governor.
Rand likened it to starting a small business in weeks. The Democrat must hire 30 to 40 people split between Maine offices and Washington, including a solid administrative director who knows the inner workings of the Senate and can help Jackson secure limited office space. He will make choices between loyal Maine Democrats or floaters who specialize in policy in Washington.
He also must make decisions on field office locations, talk to Senate leaders to lobby for desired committees and find a place to live in Washington while officially closing down his huge campaign. Jackson has expressed interest in serving on several committees, including the appropriations panel that Collins chairs. But it’s unlikely he gets every assignment he wants.
King, who was elected to the Senate in 2012, did not move into a full office suite in the Dirksen Senate Office Building until June 2013, Rand remembered. Freshmen senators are often “crunched for space” and often meet with constituents in cafeterias. Jackson’s team will have to establish systems for correspondence, and legislative and policy teams.
“It was a slog, but it’s exciting,” she said.
Jackson could choose to keep Collins’ six field offices across the state or shake things up, Lance Dutson, a former Collins staffer, said. King kept a number of Republican former Sen. Olympia Snowe’s field office staffers, but that’s less likely given the bitter campaign and inherent differences between Collins’ and Jackson’s teams, Dutson said.
The newcomer must also manage the transfer of a constituent service caseload, as senators handle hundreds of cases on Social Security, Veterans Affairs benefits and more. Dutson expected a smooth transition on that front.
“Collins and her team are super diligent on constituent services,” he said. “I would guess despite the party conflict, Jackson is probably going to get handed stuff in a very neat and orderly way.”
Neither Jackson nor Collins spoke publicly Wednesday, but the senator already alluded to the next steps for her and her successor’s teams: “I called Troy Jackson tonight to congratulate him and to assure him that my staff and I will work to ensure a smooth transition,” she said in a statement early Wednesday morning.
King’s office said it had been in contact with both Collins’ and Jackson’s teams as of Wednesday afternoon.
Jason Shedlock, a Jackson confidant and president of the Maine Building and Construction Trades Council, said conversations among labor groups and the senator-elect’s team are sure to ramp up over the next couple of weeks. Engagement with unions will come “before, during and after” the transition, just like it did during the snap nominating race.
“What this campaign did was shed some light for the public in his relationship with labor, but that’s not new,” Shedlock said.