Facing a tight race against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me., Democratic challenger Troy Jackson has turned to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. in the hopes of bolstering his campaign.
Sanders, who was an early backer of original Maine Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner before he dropped out, recently campaigned with Jackson at three separate events in the state. At a rally in Bangor, he emphasized that the outcome of the race could decide control of the Senate, while also stating, “We got to make sure that when Democrats do have control over the House and Senate, they have the guts to stand up to their campaign contributors and fight for an agenda that works for working families.”
Jackson echoed Sanders’s remarks in pitching himself as a populist candidate, saying that he did not take Political Action Committee (PAC) donations, and claiming that Collins’s thirty years in the Senate had not benefited Maine voters. He again attempted to cast Collins as in hoc to the Trump administration, despite her longstanding reputation as a moderate Republican.
Sanders had previously endorsed Jackson during his gubernatorial run, and had indicated agreement with his ideological worldview prior to endorsing his Senate campaign. In past remarks to “Meet the Press,” Sanders praised Jackson’s support for a universal “Medicare for All” system, as well as his criticism of the wealthy, both of which have long figured heavily into Sanders’s own talking points. The two have a political relationship that goes back to 2016, when Jackson served as the state chair of Sanders’s presidential campaign in Maine.
In a campaign statement, Collins’s team was dismissive of Sanders’s visit to the state. The statement read in part, “After all, our campaign is about Mainers – not who the Democratic Socialists of America want to control this Senate seat.” Jackson appears to be betting that Sanders’s endorsement will close the grassroots enthusiasm gap for his campaign, though, rather than alienating Maine voters who don’t share the senator’s left-wing politics.
