"Let’s get to work to defeat Susan Collins and create the Maine that working people deserve," Jackson, a fifth-generation logger from the remote northern tip of Maine and a one-time conservative Republican who became a Democrat over two decades ago, said in a social media post ahead of the convention.
"Maine voters have been shut out by the Democrat establishment with a rigged nominating process to crown Platner 2.0 without a single vote being cast," Republican National Committee spokesperson Kristen Cianci charged in a statement to Fox News Digital.
What we know
Jackson, a former state Senate president, is on a glide path to replace Platner at the Maine Democratic Party nominating convention in Bangor, after winning the vast majority of the voting delegates chosen last weekend by Democrats in the northern New England state's 16 counties. "This is a bit of a rocket vetting process," a Democratic strategist who works on Senate races, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, told Fox News Digital.
Senate candidate Graham Platner during a "Fighting Oligarchy" tour stop at the Collins Center for the Arts on the University of Maine campus on May 24, 2026 in Orono, Maine. Senate seat in the general election. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Jackson, who also had Sanders' support as he ran governor, is currently backed in his Senate campaign by Our Revolution, the group born in 2016 out of Sanders' first presidential campaign.
The food bank was able to expand thanks to federal funding that the senator helped obtain. (Paul Steinhauser/Fox News) The senator, known as a moderate Republican who at times has voted against Trump, last month received bipartisan praise after reaching a milestone by casting her 10,000th consecutive Senate vote.
The details
Ro Khanna of California, a leading progressive in the House and a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, was a top Platner backer. Susan Collins of Maine tours a food bank in Harrison, Maine, on May 5, 2026. But Democrats are taking aim at Collins over her comments that she didn't regret her 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, despite his crucial vote four years later to overturn the landmark Roe v. Six years ago, she trailed Democratic challenger Sara Gideon, the then-Maine House speaker, but the senator ended up winning re-election by nearly 9 points.
Reactions
Bernie Sanders of Vermont soon after he launched his bid last August, saw his campaign quickly catch fire. He backs raising taxes on billionaires, the universal healthcare system known as "Medicare-for-all," abolishing U.S.
What to watch
Platner is the presumptive Democratic nominee and will face incumbent Sen. The 500 delegates chosen last weekend, along with 101 selected by the state party, will vote for the nominee at the convention.
COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS: This article was assembled by the SHREDNEWZ evidence pipeline from corroborated reporting by Operative Telegram Feed, Fox News - Politics. All facts and quotations are attributed to the original outlets.
DECLASSIFIED SOURCE: Operative Telegram Feed (via Real-time Signal Upgrade)
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