New Bernie Sanders-backed darling to replace Graham Platner has surprising conservative past

Maine Democrats are so desperate to replace accused rapist Graham Platner with another rugged “working-class hero” type that the left wing has thrown its support behind an Allagash logger – despite a past that’s anything but progressive.Platner formally withdrew from the race for US Senate Friday after Maine woman Jenny Racicot accused him of drunkenly raping her in 2021 — clearing the way for another contender to replace him on the ballot against Republican Susan Collins in the November midterms.The race is key to which party will control the Senate.Troy Jackson, a fifth-generation logger and longtime union member, who served as president of the Maine Senate from 2018 to 2024, looks like the natural successor to Platner — at least on the surface.“He was a logger by trade so he’s got that Maine log man in him,” said former political operative Kurt Bardella, who has advised members of both major parties.“I think you’re going to start seeing a real coalescing behind Troy Jackson,” he told News Nation.

“If they don’t get this one right, they’re toast, they’re cooked, they’re not going to win.”Jackson, 58, campaigned with both Platner and Sen.Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on the “Fighting the Oligarchy” tour at the University of Maine in May.

He is a longtime ally of the Vermont socialist, having been one of the few Democratic National Committee superdelegates to endorse him over Hillary Clinton in 2016.This week, the political organization founded by Sanders after his unsuccessful 2016 presidential run, Our Revolution, said it was throwing its “full organizing machine” behind Jackson’s senate bid, stating he “spent his life in the fight working people are asking for.”He was also endorsed by lefty heavyweight Rep.Ro Khanna (D-CA), who was one of Platner’s top backers in Congress.But despite sharing Platner’s left-wing populism on economic issues — and having been one of his loudest cheerleaders — Jackson’s politic...