Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson emerged as the clear front-runner Saturday as Maine Democrats began the unprecedented process of selecting delegates who will choose the party’s replacement nominee for the U.S. Senate race following Graham Platner’s withdrawal.
County Democratic committees across Maine held the first round of delegate caucuses Saturday, electing representatives who will attend the party’s special nominating convention on July 25 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor. There, 601 delegates will decide who will become the Democratic nominee to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in November.
By the end of Saturday’s caucuses, Jackson had built a commanding lead, securing the support of approximately 300 pledged delegates, just 11 short of the 311 needed for a majority if those commitments hold through next weekend’s convention.
Jackson’s campaign dominated several county caucuses. In Hancock County, candidates aligned with Jackson won 22 of the county’s 23 delegate positions, while he also performed strongly in Kennebec County and several other counties that held caucuses Saturday.
The remaining county caucuses are scheduled for Sunday and will determine the final elected delegates before next weekend’s convention.
Former Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows also picked up delegate support Saturday but finished well behind Jackson in the early tally.
Several other Democrats remain in the race, including Maine Beer Company co-founder Dan Kleban, former congressional staffer Jordan Wood, former congressional candidate Ashley Webb, David Costello and Elizabeth Dickerson.
While Webb remains an active candidate, there were no publicly reported delegate victories or pledged delegates for her during Saturday’s caucuses, underscoring the significant advantage Jackson established on the convention’s opening weekend.
The accelerated nomination process was triggered after former Democratic nominee Graham Platner withdrew from the race following allegations of sexual assault, which he has denied. Platner’s withdrawal came after he won the June Democratic primary with more than 156,000 votes, forcing party leaders to invoke a rarely used replacement process to keep a Democratic candidate on the November ballot.
Under Maine Democratic Party rules, 601 delegates will vote at the July 25 convention. The convention is made up of 500 delegates elected through county caucuses this weekend and 101 automatic delegates who are members of the Maine Democratic State Committee.
Candidates must also submit 500 valid signatures by Monday to qualify for the convention ballot.
Once the convention begins, delegates will vote in a series of elimination rounds. After the initial ballot, only the top five candidates will remain. The candidate receiving the fewest votes in each subsequent round will be eliminated until one candidate earns a majority of the delegates.
The Maine Democratic Party must certify its nominee to the Secretary of State by 5 p.m. on July 27, giving the eventual winner just over three months to mount a statewide campaign against Collins.
Interest in the replacement process has been unusually high. More than 5,500 Democrats signed up to participate in this weekend’s caucuses or sought delegate positions, reflecting intense interest in selecting a new nominee after Platner’s abrupt exit.
With one day of county caucuses still remaining, Jackson enters Sunday’s meetings with a commanding lead and appears well-positioned heading into next weekend’s convention, although the remaining delegate elections could still reshape the race before Democrats cast their final votes in Bangor.
Enjoy the great Harness Racing in Bangor while your there.
Susan Collins is at the potato blossom festival, while the Democrats are all arguing over who hates Trump more. And with Paul LePage on the campaign trail, this fall, nominating Trey Jackson is guaranteeing Collins a victory as LePage will remind us why we don’t like Jackson so Collins doesn’t have to.
And isn’t Jackson facing consequences for that mortgage fraud?
i’m still not convinced that the Bangor police won’t have their hands full next weekend.
Even though the shemale didn’t get any elected delegates, I can’t believe that they won’t be significant support for it amongst the 101 state party delegates which will either mean that Jack has to bend over backwards for the sexually confused, or they’ll throw a tantrum.
Either will be fun to watch.
And is Bellows calculating her votes for a reappointment as Secretary of state?
Someone should tell troy that just because it says “just for men” on the box doesn’t mean it’ll make him a man.
Good lord. You see that fat pig Trump insert himself in FIFA award to Spain? Fat ugly grifter had to be pulled off stage to give actual athletes the stage. Trump is a dummy narcissist. After inserting himself in a FIFA penalty earlier in the year. Honestly. Trump is embarrassing
Did Commie Sue attend this this annual festival last year!?
Did Commie Sue attend the Mixie parade last year!?
Goodness, you RINO’s are pathetic. I mean stupid.
‘ICE OFFICERS AT MAINE SHOOTING SCENE WERE WEARING BODY CAMERAS. THEY WERE NOT TURNED ON.’
“ICE officers were wearing body cameras they can’t turn on, four sources said. The Trump administration said there was no footage.
Karl Loftus
July 16 2026, 2:05 p.m. ET
BIDDEFORD, ME – JULY 13: An FBI official places an evidence card on Pool Street in Biddeford where a man was reportedly killed in a shooting involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Monday, July 13, 2026. MANDATORY CREDIT: (Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald)
An FBI official places an evidence card in Biddeford, Maine, where a 25-year-old man was shot and killed by an ICE officer on July 13, 2026. Photo: Gregory Rec/Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
FEDERAL OFFICERS AT the scene of a killing by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Maine were wearing body cameras, according to four ICE officials who reviewed images from the scene — but the cameras are on multi-function devices that ICE officers use as radio mics.
Related
How ICE Arrests Went Quiet — and Got Even More Deadly
After an ICE officer shot and killed a 25-year-old Colombian national this week in Biddeford, Maine, Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin reportedly told Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, that officers involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras.
Yet the ICE officials who spoke with The Intercept, all of whom requested anonymity to protect their livelihoods, identified cameras among the equipment worn by two ICE officers nearby in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
The body-worn devices were not designed solely to capture evidential video, and are used primarily as remote microphones for ICE officers’ radio communications. (ICE did not respond to a request for comment.)
“We are currently only using them as mics because of the AXON contract.”
ICE officials who spoke to The Intercept identified the accessories worn by ICE officers on the scene of the Maine shooting as Motorola SVX Video Remote Speaker Microphones, a wireless radio mic with one other important feature: a camera. (Motorola did not respond to a request to comment.)
Although the Motorola SVX worn by ICE officers are designed to work as body cameras, the ICE official said the function isn’t used.
“They have multiple functionalities,” one ICE official who identified the Motorola SVX at the scene in Maine told The Intercept. “However, we are currently only using them as mics because of the AXON contract.”
The Department of Homeland Security, ICE’s parent agency, purchases body-worn cameras through a contract with Axon, a law enforcement tech firm. (Axon did not respond to a request for comment.)
Another ICE official showed The Intercept where, on their own Motorola SVX, a cover can be attached to the top of the device where the camera lens is, comparing it to the tech worn by officers at the Maine shooting scene.
“This is where the cover clips over the camera lens,” the second ICE officer said. “Since the cameras don’t work they just leave the cover on.”
The SVX mics worn by ICE are designed to record internally, capable of storing over 100 hours of standard-definition video, according to Motorola promotional materials and a technical support line. The video-recording function on the SVX mic, however, requires a subscription.”
The Interceot