Troy Jackson Delivers Closing Argument: “Concern Is Not Courage”

Joined by Maine advocates, Jackson calls out Collins’ record of enabling Trump and makes the case for a senator who will fight for working people

Additional photos here

PORTLAND, ME — With Election Day days away, fifth-generation logger, former Maine Senate President, and Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate Troy Jackson joined health care and reproductive rights advocates at a Maine Democratic Party press conference to deliver his closing argument: Mainers deserve a senator who will stand up to Donald Trump and fight for them.

“Vote after vote, judge after judge, lifetime appointment after lifetime appointment. At some point, the explanations don't matter nearly as much as the pattern,” said Planned Parenthood of Northern New England CEO Nicole Clegg. “Susan Collins can tell us she supports reproductive rights. She can tell us she was disappointed by what happened to Roe. She can tell us that Donald Trump doesn't define her, but her record tells a different story. And Mainers have every right to believe the record.”

“One of the most consequential and costly votes that Senator Collins has taken while voting and supporting Donald Trump 96% of the time was the vote that she cast to advance last summer's Big Beautiful Bill," said Dr. Nirav Shah. “Now, Maine's health care system is and has been in crisis. Hospital units are closing. Premiums are spiking. Thousands of people are getting kicked off of their health insurance entirely, and the blame for that crumbling lies squarely at the feet of Susan Collins.”

“[Collins] voted five times against resolutions that would have stopped the war in its earliest stages. Now, Mainers are living with the consequences,” said former Maine Senator Rebecca Millet. “The war is costing Maine households nearly $700 more in gas, and then of course there is the price of diesel, which is hurting our fishing, logging, and farming communities. The easiest time to stop a war is before it starts, and by the time she decided to stop rubber stamping Trump's war, it was far too late to make a difference.”

“For 30 years, Senator Collins has been in Washington telling us that she's concerned while life keeps getting harder back home, but concern is not courage. Susan Collins has had her chance time and time again to stand up to Donald Trump, and time and time again she's failed,” said Jackson. “We don't have to settle for the scraps that the billionaires want to give us. We don't have to settle for Donald Trump's corruption, chaos, and crimes, and we don't have to settle for Susan Collins' concern anymore. We can have the government that we deserve and the government that works for us. I am asking for people across the state's vote, and I'm ready to get to work.”

###