Lorri Nandrea’s writings for Communist Party USA include pieces on Marxist theory, “green socialism” and class consciousness; Jackson is now challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a pivotal U.S. Senate race
Months before Troy Jackson became the Democratic nominee seeking to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Maine activist with a documented history of writing for Communist Party USA was among the hosts of a campaign event organized to support Jackson’s political ambitions.
Lorri Nandrea of Canton was listed as one of four hosts of a June 5 campaign brunch for Jackson at the Local 14 Solidarity Center in Jay, according to an event invitation reviewed by The Maine Wire.
At the time, Jackson was campaigning for governor under the slogan “From the Woods to the Blaine House.”
Today, the political stakes are considerably higher.
Jackson, a former Maine Senate president and fifth-generation logger from Allagash, was selected by Maine Democrats on July 25 to replace Graham Platner as their nominee for the U.S. Senate. Jackson will face Collins in November in a race both parties view as potentially important to control of the Senate.
That makes the identity and political background of those who have helped organize Jackson campaign events increasingly relevant as voters scrutinize the man Democrats are asking them to send to Washington.
And Nandrea’s political writings leave little ambiguity about her association with Communist Party USA circles.
“Brunch with Troy”
The June 5 invitation was titled “From the Woods to the Blaine House: Brunch with Troy Jackson, Candidate for Governor.”
“We’re hosting a house party so you can meet Troy Jackson, candidate for governor,” the invitation said.
It identified four people as hosts: Linda Deane, Cynthia Phinney, Lorri Nandrea and Jimmy McHugh.
The event was scheduled for 11 a.m. at the Local 14 Solidarity Center in Jay. The accompanying campaign flyer invited people to a “Meet & Greet” with Jackson and directed attendees to a registration link.
The invitation also said campaign donations would be accepted, although they were not required to attend.
The hosts described themselves as longtime Jackson allies.
“We have known Troy for a long time and have worked with him on important legislation that we believe makes Maine a better place to live,” the invitation stated.
That distinction is significant.
Nandrea was not simply photographed somewhere Jackson happened to appear. According to the invitation, she was one of four people hosting an event specifically organized around Jackson’s candidacy.
Who Is Lorri Nandrea?
Communist Party USA’s own website provides a substantial public record of Nandrea’s political writings.
The organization maintains an author page under her name containing four articles: “Waking class consciousness today,” “Why fixing capitalism is not enough,” “Killer capitalism vs. green socialism,” and “Unions are more popular: How does this translate into action?”
Lorri Nandrea’s Communist Party USA author page
In “Why fixing capitalism is not enough,” published in January 2019, Nandrea’s argument expressly invokes Marxist theory while criticizing capitalism’s effects beyond conventional economic measurements.
Her November 2018 article, “Waking class consciousness today,” argued that raising class consciousness should be a high priority for left-wing activists.
But another article provides perhaps the most significant evidence concerning Nandrea’s relationship with Communist Party organizing.
In December 2019, Nandrea contributed to a discussion stemming from a Communist Party USA National Committee webinar.
In that article, Nandrea discussed organizing efforts undertaken with assistance from the Communist Party’s National Labor Commission and referred to the activities of “our club.”
The Communist Party’s website also continues to reference Nandrea in more recent material. A 2025 CPUSA article discussing party organization highlighted a labor book edited by Nandrea and Tony Pecinovsky while discussing resources and organizing for Communist Party clubs and districts.
Is Nandrea a Communist?
That’s the obvious question, but it is also where precision matters.
Social-media posts circulating photographs and documents from the Jackson event have described Nandrea as a “dues-paying Communist Party USA member.”
The Maine Wire has not independently obtained CPUSA membership or dues records establishing that Nandrea was a current dues-paying member when she co-hosted Jackson’s June campaign event.
For that reason, The Maine Wire is not presenting that specific claim as established fact.
What is established through Communist Party USA’s own website is significant on its own: Nandrea has written multiple articles for the organization about Marxism, socialism, capitalism and class consciousness, and one of those articles refers to work undertaken by “our club” with assistance from the Communist Party’s National Labor Commission.
Whether Nandrea formally belonged to Communist Party USA at the time of the Jackson fundraiser is a question she can answer.
From the Blaine House to the U.S. Senate
When Nandrea helped host the June 5 gathering, Jackson was asking Mainers to send him to the Blaine House.
He is now asking them to send him to the United States Senate.
Jackson won the Democratic nomination at the party’s July 25 convention in Bangor after Platner withdrew from the race. Maine Public reported that Jackson emerged from the convention as Collins’ challenger in a contest both parties consider important to the battle for Senate control.
The Associated Press similarly described Jackson’s elevation as placing the longtime northern Maine politician into a pivotal race against Collins.
Collins is seeking a sixth term.
Jackson’s campaign has meanwhile emphasized his working-class roots and presented him as a populist alternative to the longtime Republican senator.
That makes the people helping Jackson build his political movement, and the ideology they advocate, fair subjects for scrutiny.
Questions for Jackson
The June event does not establish that Jackson himself is a Communist, belongs to Communist Party USA or endorses Nandrea’s writings.
There is currently no evidence reviewed by The Maine Wire supporting such a claim.
But the documentation raises questions about what Jackson and his campaign knew about the political background of someone publicly listed as a host of one of his campaign events.
Among the questions The Maine Wire is seeking answers to are whether Jackson knew Nandrea had written for Communist Party USA; whether Nandrea has organized, volunteered or otherwise worked on additional Jackson campaign activities; whether Jackson agrees with any of the Marxist or socialist views contained in her writings; whether his campaign knows if Nandrea is currently a CPUSA member; and whether Jackson would knowingly accept campaign assistance from a member of Communist Party USA.
Those questions carry considerably more weight now than they did when Jackson was campaigning for governor.
Jackson is no longer simply seeking Maine’s highest state office.
He is the Democratic Party’s nominee against Susan Collins in one of the country’s closely watched U.S. Senate contests, meaning Maine voters will ultimately decide whether to send him to Washington.
And as Jackson asks those voters for their support, they may reasonably want to know more about the political movement surrounding his candidacy, including why a writer whose work appears on Communist Party USA’s own website was helping host one of his campaign events.
Why put in the effort? With bellows counting the votes democracy is dead.
Listen to what Troy says in one of his commercials “we organinized to fight against foreign workers undercutting us and taking our jobs” but in reality Troy wants to allow Foriegners in to the country Troy is a nutjob not a logger or he be back earning a living in the woods again much better job than being a politician when will someone in the Republican party say something about this statement maybe JOHN FETHERSTON will ask him someone needs to bring it up the media wont, have a good day.
something about a rose by any other name comes to mind
This guy has Pork Bellying written all over him.