Mainer by birth. Logger by trade. Senator for the people.

Troy Jackson grew up in Aroostook County, a poor kid in a town full of poor kids. His mom was 16 when he was born. His dad was a logger, like his dad, and his dad before him.

When Troy was in 7th grade, he saw his first strike. His dad and his fellow loggers were standing up to a wealthy landowner who thought he could squeeze them for more. They weren’t asking for any special treatment or a pay raise — they were just asking for basic fairness.

He told them: Do the work for what I'll pay you today, or I'll replace you tomorrow.

A few years later Troy became a logger himself. He spent years putting in 80-hour weeks in the woods — running equipment, driving trucks, and cutting wood just to make ends meet.

It wasn't long until Troy was part of a big labor fight of his own, blocking the border to stand up to billionaire landowners cutting wages. Politicians — including then-first-term Senator Susan Collins — promised to listen, but they left Troy and his fellow loggers high and dry. After that experience, he realized nothing would change for him or anyone else like him unless there was a working class voice in the room when decisions got made. So he ran for the Maine state legislature.

Troy spent twenty years in the legislature, six as Senate President. He got there by earning the trust of his friends and neighbors — regardless of what party they belonged to, they knew Troy would fight for them.

In the legislature, Troy fought hard to successfully lower prescription drug prices, passed universal school meals, protected union jobs, expanded rural health care, delivered property tax relief, safeguarded our environment, and championed and passed some of the strongest reproductive health protections anywhere in the country.

But with the wins, there were real frustrations, too. Time and time again, Troy saw legislation that would be a gamechanger for working families to get watered down, killed, or vetoed. Powerful people marched in and dictated what they would do. It wasn’t so different than what he saw as a kid in the woods with his dad.

Like you, Troy is tired of watching working families get squeezed while the wealthiest keep getting more. Now, he is proud to be stepping up to run for U.S. Senate — because working Mainers deserve a fighter in Washington. He is running to put power back in the hands of the people and fix our broken systems.

Troy earned an Associate's Degree from the University of Maine at Fort Kent in 2000. He lives in Allagash with his partner, Lana. They have two grown sons.