PRESS RELEASE
Troy Launches Women for Troy, Hits The Airwaves, And Highlights Record Of Fighting For Mainers
PORTLAND, ME — It was another packed week on the campaign trail, with Troy launching Women for Troy alongside Reproductive Freedom for All, taking the fight directly to Susan Collins across national television, and highlighting the working-class record that has defined his career.
From reproductive freedom and health care to Trump’s tariffs and Collins’ failure to use her power on behalf of Maine, Troy made the same case everywhere he went: Washington is working just fine for billionaires and special interests. It’s everyday Mainers who are getting left behind.
[Additional b-roll and photos here]
On Wednesday night, Reproductive Freedom for All announced their endorsement of Troy Jackson at the launch of the Women for Troy coalition. Supporters from across southern Maine gathered in Brunswick to hear Troy speak on his commitment to uplifting and uniting the voices of Maine women, alongside RFFA president and CEO, Mini Timmaraju, and president of the Maine AFL-CIO, Cynthia Phinney. See local coverage of the event below:
“The government is supposed to work for everyday people,” Jackson told the crowd. “There's always money for bombs. There's always money for income tax cuts. There's always money for other things. But there's never any money for the everyday people. That's what this race to me is about."
Phinney said, “This is what we want in a legislator -- someone who listens, learns, and follows through on what they learn.”
Jackson said, “We have a chance to take someone that votes with Trump 96% of the time, that gives income tax cuts to the billionaires, that you know, puts $70 billion into ICE, a rogue agency that literally murdered a man in Biddeford for nothing more than going to work.”
WMTW: 'Women for Troy' event held to rally female support, discuss reproductive rights
Speakers at the event, which included Maine AFL-CIO president Cynthia Phinney, said Jackson is the right candidate to champion the rights of Maine women and took aim at Sen. Susan Collins for her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, which they claimed led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
Jackson also knocked Collins for voting with President Donald Trump over 90% of the time and said she has not used her power to help Maine people on affordability, and has instead supported Trump's agenda.
Spectrum News Maine: Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson launches statewide appeal to women
Former state Sen. Rebecca Millett (D-Cape Elizabeth), co-chair for the Women for Troy coalition, said the event marked the beginning of conversations with women across Maine…“He has a heart that is big and accepting,” she said. “Welcoming all of us with our imperfections, as one who is comfortable with his own. He’ll go to the mat for you. For us.”
“We have one candidate who understands the moment, who knows how to meet the moment,” said Mini Timmaraju, president of Reproductive Freedom for All. “Then we have someone else who’s desperately clinging to power and abusing it and taking the whole country down with her.”
“There’s always money for bombs, there’s always money for income tax cuts, there’s always money for other things but there’s never any money for everyday people and that’s what the race for me is about,” he said.
On Thursday night, Troy joined Lawrence O’Donnell on MS NOW’s The Last Word to call out Trump and Collins for their tariffs and tax cuts, making life harder and less affordable for everyday Mainers. Watch the full interview here, or see below for highlights:
“[Susan Collins] loves to crow about how she's the chair of appropriations. It's such a powerful position, but she's absolutely unwilling to use that power to stop [Trump] from doing things that are hurting states like Maine, and that really is the issue... it really is a joke that you know she won't use that power. The only way she uses it is to make sure that Donald Trump gets what he wants.”
“She could actually help people in the state of Maine with her position there, but instead, she gave Elon Musk and others tax breaks. Those tax breaks come off of Medicaid. Our healthcare system is crashing here in Maine. We're losing hospitals, we're losing birthing centers, nursing homes. People are losing their health insurance because there are no subsidies, just so Elon Musk and other people could have more money.”
“It's really quite striking, and the little communities up where I live depend on that cross-border shopping, little mom-and-pop stores, they're not coming. We have a natural resource sector here in Maine with forestry, farming, and fishing. A lot of our parts come out of Canada. A lot of our products go to Canada, and that's all been a real huge issue. And just for everyday people, groceries, the price of products are going up. This is a tax on the consumers here in Maine, and we're feeling it, and it's really become really challenging. So, I absolutely disagree with this. I think it's I think it is stupid. These broad-based tariffs are killing the state, and it's going to be hard to put it back together.”
Tuesday, Jackson joined Ari Melber on MS NOW’s “The Beat” to highlight how Susan Collins has failed her constituents time and time again, siding with Trump and her billionaire donors when Mainers need her most. Troy vows to bring the voice of the working class to Washington. Watch the full interview here, or see below for the highlights:
“And that's the problem is that she's completely forgot who she's representing, and so I feel like this is not so much about Troy Jackson. It's about people in Maine that are upset. They're mad. They know the government's not working for them, and they want to change.”
“[Susan Collins] voted for the big beautiful bill. She's trying to walk away from that, but she did. She's Chair of Appropriations – she could have stopped that, And what we have now, because of that, is we have a crisis here in Maine of our healthcare system: hospitals closing, birthing centers closing, nursing homes, people losing their health insurance, and it's only going to get worse because of the way they designed it.”
“I am about trying to make sure that people know what her record is. I'm happy to stand on mine…[Susan Collins] won't even get out and talk to people about her record, and I don't blame her because all she cares about is Elon Musk and people that have billions of dollars and keep funding her campaigns.”
“I got a 20-year record in the Maine legislature. Working-class people, middle income people, poor people know exactly what I've been fighting for…Middle income people need a break. They need a break from Susan Collins. That's who I am. That's who I've been fighting for, and I'll continue.”
Jackson spoke to Mike Nellis on his substack, Endless Urgency, to promote his platform of expanding opportunity for working Mainers and slamming Susan Collins for her consistent efforts against the interests of Maine people. Watch the full interview here, or see below for highlights:
“[Susan Collins] crows that she's the chair of appropriations, she has all this power, but she never uses it in a way that actually is helpful. Where is she on these tariffs? She's concerned. Where is she on the Iran war? She's concerned. She's the chair of appropriations. She could stop a lot of these things just by shutting off funding for that, or somehow standing up to Trump. But she's not going to because she's voting with him 96% of the time.”
“They're watching how she carries on with this weird game of counting votes and then throwing a bone every once in a while. The big beautiful bill, she says, "Well, I didn't vote for that.” Well, you let it out of committee, which is as bad as voting for it, and that's why our health care system is in crisis here. It just goes on and on, and I think the belief that she thinks we're stupid, that we don't understand what's going on, but people do.”
“All these people that are elected are making decisions about other people's healthcare while they're on government-sponsored healthcare, deciding who else is worthy. Well, I think everybody's worthy, and I actually think it would be so much better for our country and, like you said, for small business owners to not have to worry about trying to supply that to their workers.”
On Tuesday, Troy spoke with Brian Tyler Cohen about his record of fighting for the issues that affect everyday Mainers as Maine Senate President, compared to Susan Collins’ record of siding with Trump and billionaire elitists. Watch the full interview here, or see below for highlights:
“I got a long history. I know what my record is, and I'm proud of it. But what I haven't been fighting for is billionaires like Susan has, and that's what the difference is going to be in this election. I'm fighting for Mainers. I always have. I always will. She's fighting for wealthy elitists from some other part of the world.”
“[Mainers] are watching how she plays this weird little game of how [Susan Collins] counts the votes and then throws people a bone 4% of the time when they don't need her. But any time that they need her, she's right there…She says that she has power, but she won't use that power to actually do anything to check Trump.”
Troy's commitment to stepping in and leading Maine’s working class movement was highlighted in the American Prospect Friday morning, arguing Troy poses the biggest challenge to Senator Collins in her career. Read the whole story here, or see the highlights below:
“I think a lot of it’s born out of frustration,” Jackson said. “People should have health care, prescription drug coverage, child care. I mean, in Maine, we’re really in trouble with nursing home elder care. We’ve lost about 40 percent of our nursing homes. Housing has become a major issue, and making sure that people have abortion access.”
“She’s supposed to be the most powerful U.S. senator in the whole place, as chair of Appropriations. People know. They understand the government better than she wants to believe,” Jackson said. “To spend 30 years and get to that position to just give up all of your power to Donald Trump is just the most ridiculous thing in the world.”
If you’re imagining Jackson as a folksy, kind man from rural Maine, that is also the feeling I got from him during our interview… If Democrats were looking for a working-class hero without a lot of baggage, they’ve found it in Jackson. The polls show he currently has a narrow lead over Collins. Maybe this will be the year Collins’s long reign finally comes to an end.
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