PRESS RELEASE
In Second Debate, Jackson Holds Collins Accountable For Her Lies And The Toll It’s Taking On Mainers
WESTBROOK, ME — Fifth generation Mainer and Democratic Nominee Troy Jackson won his second debate last night, calling out Susan Collins for her long patterns of corruption and ‘delivering’ for her corporate donors while Mainers get left behind.
Feeling the pressure of having to answer to her record of hurting Mainers, Collins was caught in lies multiple times during the debate by live, non-partisan fact checkers. See some of the highlights below:
Politifact: Collins’ efforts to buffer rural health care cuts unlikely to offset effect of OBBB Act
Health policy experts have said those dollars will not erase the cut from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. KFF, a national health care policy think tank, estimated that the $50 billion could mitigate but will not fully offset $137 billion in Medicaid cuts states combined will see over 10 years.
Maine projected in July 2025 that 31,000 MaineCare expansion members are at risk of losing coverage because of new work requirements.
Nine Maine hospitals or maternity awards have announced closures in the past decade as of 2025
Bangor Daily News: Fact check: Collins took tobacco money in 2020
Collins said she has “never accepted any donations from Big Tobacco.” Her 2020 campaign took nearly $12,000 from tobacco industry PACs and employees, according to OpenSecrets. That put her 18th among senators in that cycle.
The office said that “no single cause explains it” and cited rising New England natural gas prices as the largest reason, followed by higher distribution costs that largely came from storm damage infrastructure repair expenses.
What Mainers are seeing about Jackson’s stand out performance:
Heating oil prices have hit record highs in Maine. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps certain homeowners and renters with energy costs, but many working families do not qualify and still struggle to pay their bills.
However, [Jackson] brought the issue back to the Iran War as the main culprit. “What she doesn’t want to talk about is this is a crisis that was started by her and Donald Trump,” Jackson said. Jackson said Collins voted five times against ending the war with Iran.
At one point, Jackson alleged that Collins and her husband were profiting off of the Iran War. [...] According to Collins’ 2025 financial disclosure, her husband owns stock in two defense contractors for the U.S. military, Boeing and RTX.
“It’s great that she might be able to get some fuel released. That’s awesome,” Jackson said. “But look, the 100 million gallons that she’s talking about, the average in the United States is anywhere from 20.5 to 23.6 million barrels a day."
CNN: The Story Is With Elex Michaelson: On Susan Collins Moderate Facade Fading Away
Bob Shrum: [Collins has] persuaded people that she's independent and moderate. And I think the moment that hurt her long term was Brett Kavanaugh. I think people said, wait a minute. She's the person who put onto the court the decisive vote to overturn Roe v Wade.
WGME: Jackson accuses Collins of profiting from Iran war during debate
Jackson frequently tried to tie Collins to President Donald Trump, including ICE actions and the war with Iran. At one point, Jackson accused Collins and her husband of profiting from the war
Hill: Second Maine Senate debate takes testy turn: 3 takeaways
She stressed that she has “voted nine times to end this war” under the War Powers Act. A live fact-check from PolitiFact, though, called her claim “selective counting,” pointing to five times Collins voted against such resolutions.
“She could use her leverage to stop this war. But instead, they’re making money,” Jackson argued during the debate. “I mean, Senator Collins and her husband [are] making money, more, off of this war, and so is a whole bunch of other people, and that’s why this doesn’t, doesn’t stop.”
Jackson pointed to the war — which is deeply unpopular among midterm voters — at multiple points in the night, stressing that “we have to get out of Iran” to bring down fuel prices, and raising concerns that “people will freeze to death this winter because they can’t afford to heat their home.”
“Why should voters see this as your own campaign and not something that you inherited?” Chrisos asked. “Well, it isn’t my own campaign. I mean, it’s the people across Maine,” Jackson replied. [...] “What it is about is Donald Trump and Susan Collins and the band that are making life so much harder in the state.”
Portland Press Herald: 5 notable moments from Susan Collins and Troy Jackson’s 2nd debate
Collins was largely on the defensive as she tried to distance herself from President Donald Trump, who is deeply unpopular in Maine, and from corruption allegations amplified by Democrats.
“She could use her leverage to stop this war,” he said. “But instead … Sen. Collins and her husband are making money off this war and so is a whole bunch of other people and that’s why this doesn’t stop.” Jackson was referring to Collins’ husband, Tom Daffron’s, vast stock portfolio, which includes holdings in natural gas and Boeing.
Jackson wasn’t impressed. He continued to describe Collins as kowtowing to the demands of President Donald Trump. “She’s powerful during election time but she’s weak every time we need her to stand up and fight for us,” Jackson said.
He acknowledged that he changed his views on abortion after speaking with women — something he said Collins didn’t do when Mainers traveled to D.C. to urge her to oppose Kavanaugh. “Our records have changed,” said Jackson, who is endorsed by Planned Parenthood. “Mine has gotten better — hers has gotten worse.”
Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund [@PPMEAF]: Troy Jackson has time and again fought to protect our right to abortion and expand access to care. He is the only candidate in the race for US Senate we can trust with our rights. #MEPolitics
Anthony Emerson [@AnthonyMEmerson]: The contrast between Jackson and Collins on this is incredible. Collins takes personal offense at even the implication that she might’ve gotten something wrong. Troy is open and honest about it.
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