US politics liveDemocrats Maine Democrats rally around Troy Jackson to replace Graham Platner in crucial Senate race – US politics live Former state legislator in strong position to become Democratic candidate after several appointments drop out over the weekend LIVE Updated 22m ago Yohannes Lowe Mon 20 Jul 2026 10.53 BSTFirst published on Mon 20 Jul 2026 10.47 BST Share Key events 22m ago Trump administration activates dormant court for ‘alien terrorist’ deportations 27m ago Maine Democrats rally around Troy Jackson to replace Graham Platner in crucial Senate race Troy Jackson speaks during a campaign rally with US senator Bernie Sanders in Portland, Maine, US.
Maine’s secretary of state, Shenna Bellows, withdrew yesterday morning, saying Democrats didn’t have “a day to waste in unifying” around the goal of defeating the state’s longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins in the November midterm elections.
Nirav Shah, former director of Maine’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, also dropped out – and endorsed Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from the northern part of the state, in the evening.
He was shortly followed by Dan Kleban, the co-founder of Maine Beer Company, and Jordan Wood, a progressive who worked as the chief of staff to former Representative Katie Porter of California, both of whom also endorsed Jackson.
Democrats are scrambling to regroup after their initial nominee, Graham Platner, suspended his campaign earlier this month after a series of scandals that included a woman accusing him of sexual assault, an allegation he denies.
Maine is considered a must-win state in the Democratic party’s mission of taking control of the Senate.
US Senate candidate Troy Jackson takes part in a debate at the WCSH-6 television studio, in Portland, Maine, on 16 July 2026.
Though not legally binding, according to POLITICO, over two-thirds of the 601 delegates have now committed to voting for Jackson at that statewide convention next weekend.
Jackson, 58, was elected to the state legislature in 2002 and ultimately became the president of Maine’s senate.
He left office in 2024 due to term limits.
Jackson then unsuccessfully ran to be the Democratic nominee for governor earlier this year with Platner’s backing, but was unsuccessful.
Key events 22m ago Trump administration activates dormant court for ‘alien terrorist’ deportations 27m ago Maine Democrats rally around Troy Jackson to replace Graham Platner in crucial Senate race In other news, the Trump administration has filed a first-ever petition to a secretive and dormant court created 30 years ago to consider government requests to deport so-called “alien terrorists” from the US.
The Alien Terrorist Removal Court (ATRC) was established in 1996 but had never received a petition until Wednesday, when the US justice department filed an application seeking the removal of an individual whose name is withheld from the single-page document posted on the court’s website.
Joan Ericksen, the chief judge of the five-member court, said in a written response to the petition that a hearing was held on Thursday during which the court had “questions about the nexus that the government alleges between the actions of the respondent and the specific sections and subsections it invokes with respect to those actions”.
Ericksen, a federal judge in Minnesota, wrote: “The answers persuaded the court that the government could benefit from the opportunity for more thoughtful consideration.” She directed the justice department to provide more information by Wednesday.
