PRESS RELEASE
Jackson Spends Another Weekend On The Trail Connecting With Mainers, Holds Fourth Town Hall
PORTLAND, ME — This past weekend, fifth-generation Mainer and logger, former Maine Senate President, and Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Troy Jackson campaigned across Maine hearing directly from voters on the way their lives have been impacted by the Trump administration’s broken economy, and promising to build a government that works for working people.
On Saturday, Troy met with workers, union members, and voters at Democratic office openings in Rockland and Bangor, and attended a tailgate event at the University of Maine Orono football game for the Maine Black Bears.
On Sunday, Troy held a ‘Solidarity For Seniors’ Town Hall, joined York County Democrats for their annual lobster bake, and celebrated the opening of the Maine Democratic Party’s Portland field office.
HERE’S WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT IT:
Biddeford Gazette: Troy Jackson rouses Democrats at Biddeford campaign event
More than 260 people packed the gymnasium at the Biddeford Community Center on Sunday evening for a chance to hear Democrat Troy Jackson talk about his campaign to oust Republican Susan Collins from her U.S. Senate seat.
The event was labeled as a “Solidarity with Seniors” town hall-style meeting, focused primarily on issues impacting seniors and a troubled health care system that has experienced deep service cuts in some parts of Maine.
Jackson took center stage to a rousing chorus of applause from an audience dominated by senior citizens. “Working people – everyday people are not powerless,” Jackson told the crowd. “When we come together, we can change things.”
The candidate said his opponent is being supported by big-money corporate interests who don’t want to lose tax breaks and their control of the economy, describing them as “afraid of everyday Americans.” “We’re not from the left, and we’re not from the right,” Jackson said. “We’re from the bottom, and they can’t stand that.”
Midcoast Villager: Jackson Rallies Volunteers at Campaign Stop in Rockland
Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson made a campaign stop Saturday morning, Sept. 12 in the city to call for electing candidates who will get government to work for the people and not the billionaires.
"This race is very simple to me. Ever since I was a little boy, I've watched power and influence hold people back," Jackson said about why he got into politics by running for the Maine Legislature.
"In this race, it's very clear that Sen. Collins has completely forgotten about who has elected her. She's doing tax cuts for the wealthiest people like Elon Musk. Elon Musk has money flowing into this state, going against me, going against Matt Dunlap, going against all of us, so that he can keep people in power who will continue the cycle," Jackson said.
Thirty-three thousand people have lost health insurance this year from the cuts to subsidies for people with insurance through the Affordable Care Act. "That's the worst thing to be, to see our health care system crumble so that a handful of people can get more," Jackson said.
Jackson has criticized Collins for what he describes as a lack of traditional public town halls, while using his own town halls to emphasize accessibility and direct voter engagement. “This is our fourth town hall; more than Susan Collins has done in the past 25 years,” Jackson had said.
Jackson began by acknowledging that it had been exactly two months since Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero was killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Biddeford. “The only thing he did wrong, in some people’s eyes, was getting up that day and going to work,” he said of Guerrero’s death.
Healthcare remained a major topic throughout the town hall. “Why are the billionaires deciding who is worthy of healthcare?” Jackson asked. “It isn’t poor people, it isn’t immigrants who are holding my healthcare back; it’s the rich people.”
Maine Newsroom: Troy Jackson explains how he’d protect Mainers' Social Security
Troy Jackson: People want to privatize [Social Security], people want to take it away, people want to raise their retirement age. I don’t want to do any of that. That’s something that everyday people pay into and depend on. It’s a commitment that was made and I’m not going to break that.
Troy Jackson: I think what we should be doing is making it so that there’s no cap. So that everybody has to pay the same amount based on their income, and then we can make sure it’s whole, but also raise benefits. Because the people on Social Security that depend on it can’t live in a state or a country like what we have right now.
Troy Jackson: Those ads that Susan and the Republicans are running are protecting millionaires and billionaires once again, because that’s what they do.
###