PRESS RELEASE
Troy Connects With Maine Voters On The Trail And On The Airways
PORTLAND, ME — Fifth-generation logger, former Maine Senate President, and Democratic Nominee for US Senate Troy Jackson spent the week hearing directly from voters as he campaigns to bring his Maine working class perspective to Washington. After 30 years of Susan Collins selling out Mainers for tax cuts for billionaires and supporting Trump’s reckless agenda that’s gutting health care, raising costs, and taking away reproductive rights, Mainers are rallying around Troy’s promise to fight for them and put them first.
Supporters packed into Supper Club, a local Portland bar, to meet with Troy and speak with him about his commitment to fighting for Maine Wednesday night. The room was filled from wall to wall with excitement and energy. See local coverage below:
News Center Maine: “I’m telling people across this country, this movement that’s happening in Maine, the fact that so many people show up on a Wednesday night to hear a guy talk from Allagash, I mean that's not about Troy Jackson. That’s about the issues that are affecting all of us, and we’re not going to stand for it anymore,” Jackson said.
WGME: Jackson used the event to draw a contrast with Republican Senator Susan Collins, arguing she's not using her power as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee to push back on the Trump administration…“She lets ICE have what they want, she voted for the tax cuts for Elon Musk…she lets the war in Iran [continue], all those things you can stop with the power of the purse, that she crows that she has power on, but she doesn't use it because she's not willing to go up against Donald Trump."
Local Bangor news channel WVII brought Troy on to talk about the rapid momentum of the campaign and the energy that he’s seeing in voters across the state.
Grace Blanchard: Former Maine Senate President says he has been capitalizing on the burst of energy from democrats.
Troy Jackson [embedded interview]: I don't know if you can keep up with the energy actually. There's momentum in the state like I've never seen before.
Grace Blanchard: The fifth-generation logger says if elected, his top priority would be to fight for affordable healthcare for all.
Presque Isle’s WAGM spoke with Jackson on how his working class roots as a logger in northern Maine influence his priorities as he campaigns to bring the voice of working class Mainers to Washington.
He said that when it comes to class, wealth and government, his background differs from Collins’ beyond their shared home county. “I mean, I’m further north than Senator Collins, but I think that’s where the comparisons end,” Jackson said. “You know, Senator Collins is from a very wealthy, affluent family, which I don’t begrudge her. I mean, I don’t begrudge anyone like that, but I’m working class. I’ve had to fight and, you know, do everything I could to make a living in the logging industry. I still am not at all wealthy. And, again, I mean, I think it’s who we’re representing.”
On Thursday, Troy hopped on the Find Out Podcast with Mainer Tim Fullerton to reinforce his unwavering commitment to his policy platform of Medicare for All and retiring Susan Collins so she can’t continue to vote no on bills she could've stopped cold.
Troy Jackson: I think Susan thinks that voters in Maine are stupid. That we don't know what her playbook is, but after that many years, people know it very well. And that's part of what's going on here, is people are upset with her that she keeps playing this weird game.
Troy Jackson: She voted against it when it got on the floor, but she could have stopped it from getting the floor. That's that's the deal. That same thing with ICE funding. [She] could have stopped that. [She] could’ve stopped the tariffs. [She] could stop all that stuff by putting your foot down, and that's something that I 100% believe in. I may be a Democrat, but I fought with Democrats as much as Republicans on these issues, and I won't turn my back on the people I care about based on party loyalty. And Susan's not about that.
OhThatsRich: He crushed the questions like a regular human answers questions, instead of a…stump-speech politician answers questions and I deeply appreciate that.
Tim Fullerton: Troy is Maine. You hear it, he acts like it, I know so many people like him… He has won as a democrat in red areas of the state…That’s why it matters.
Troy joined Sirius XM Progress to talk with Mainer Joe Sudbay his fight to dismantle Trump and Susan Collins’ corrupt government that favors billionaires and corporations over working people. See below for the highlights:
“A lot of these issues I dealt with in the Maine legislature People said, "Well, this is a federal thing; you can't do this here. Well, all right, then I’m going to go to the U.S. Senate and fight for things that everyday people need in Maine.”
“There's no billionaires that are ever going to stand up for Troy Jackson. They're in Susan Collins' court because she does what they want. And that's what this race is about. They're scared that we're going to flip the seat. They're not going to have that rubber stamp anymore because…I don't give a s*** about those people. I care about everyday people.”
“She could have stopped ICE. She could have stopped everything as chair of appropriations. But she's not because she votes with Trump 96% of the time. That's who she cares about. She cares about the people that are bankrolling her, that are making sure that she gets some big stock transactions and things like that.”
“But what you're seeing right now in Maine, I think it's born of frustration of not having the government that they deserve, and Susan Collins being certainly someone that could have done something about that, but chooses not to. So you're seeing people across the state that are demanding change. So I feel really good about it.”
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