What did Troy Jackson do before the Senate race?

He became a logger at 19, the same work his father did. He cut wood, drove trucks and ran heavy equipment, often 80 hours a week.

On October 19, 1998, loggers in Fort Kent decided to block the border with Canada. Large landowners had been replacing Maine loggers with cheaper labor, and Troy helped lead the blockade.

He has called it his political awakening. In an interview on The Contrarian, shared September 4, 2026, he said: "when I started working the industry myself, same thing I watched happen… that's really where my eyes, at 29 years old, got open to the fact that government doesn't work for people that don't have the bigger checkbooks."

Four years later he was elected to the Maine House.

He spent six years in the Maine House, starting in 2002. In 2008 he moved to the Maine Senate. He served there until 2014, came back in 2016, and stayed until term limits ended his time in 2024.

As Senate President he passed LD 1459, the collective bargaining law for loggers and haulers. He helped make school breakfast and lunch free for every Maine public school student (LD 1679) and helped pass the state's paid family and medical leave law (LD 258).

On March 12, 2026, he filed his nomination papers to run for governor.

On July 9, 2026, he wrote: "I'm Troy Jackson. I'm a Mainer, a dad, a fifth-generation logger from Allagash, and I'm running for the United States Senate." On July 25, delegates in Bangor made him the Democratic nominee, with 566 votes.