Troy Jackson is no Graham Platner, and that’s not a bad thing.
With Jackson, there’s no offensive tattoo, no sexist or racist Reddit posts, and no former girlfriend accusing him of sexual assault — there’s just a Senate candidate who comes across as a decent, no-nonsense Maine guy, who can relate to everyday issues facing voters.
Is that enough to beat longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins?
It could be. But in these political times, flipping a Senate seat to blue looks harder to do without Platner’s dazzle and bad boy swagger — which was tolerated, even celebrated, until it crossed into allegations of sexual assault, which Platner denied.
Collins, who is 73, has represented Maine in the Senate since 1997. In a state that went for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, Collins now carries the weight of President Trump’s unpopularity and the rising fuel prices that flow from his war with Iran; her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and, with that, the overturning of abortion rights protected by Roe v. Wade; and recent allegations that she accepted campaign donations in exchange for government contracts, which she denies.
Is that enough to defeat her? It could be. But Collins still seems formidable, even with the quaver in her voice that she has attributed to a neurological condition. While a recent Marist poll put Jackson ahead with 51 percent to 47 percent for Collins, 57 percent of those polled said they think Collins will win — a tribute to her renowned survival skills and ability to cast herself as an independent voice for Maine who brings home the bacon.
During one debate that I watched last week, Collins put a number on that bacon, claiming that she had “secured $1.5 billion for 672 projects all over the state of Maine during the past five years.” She also disputed Jackson’s contention that she votes with Trump 96 percent of the time, insisting instead that it was only 72 percent of the time.
During the debate, Collins also demanded an apology from Jackson — which he did not give — after he alleged that Collins and her husband are “making money” off the war in Iran. Afterward, The New York Times reported that to back up that allegation, the Jackson campaign pointed to her husband’s disclosed stockholding in two aerospace companies with contracts with the Pentagon. However, according to the Times, the stock price in both companies has fallen since the start of the war.
Collins also pushed back on the inevitable question about her support for Kavanaugh and its ultimate consequence relative to the loss of abortion rights by raising Jackson’s past anti-choice voting record as a Maine lawmaker. To that, Jackson had a good rejoinder, saying, “Our records have changed. Mine has gotten better. Hers has gotten worse.” He added: “I can admit when I was wrong. Senator Collins can’t.”
If Jackson somehow pulls off a victory, it will be a big deal, especially because of the brief time he had to do it. After growing controversies that ended with allegations of sexual misconduct, Platner dropped out of the race in July. Later that month, Jackson, a former Maine Senate president, won the process that was put in place to replace Platner, giving him a short, Harris-like runway to defeat Collins.
If Jackson doesn’t win, it will be an even bigger deal, especially if it means Democrats fall short of winning enough seats to flip the Senate. There will be the usual recriminations, with some Democrats sure to argue the party should have doubled down, just like Republicans do with flawed candidates like Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for Senate against Democrat James Talarico.
Jackson’s campaign strategy will also be questioned. Did he push hard enough against Collins on the corruption angle? During last week’s debate, his effort to do that was undercut by questions raised about his acceptance of corporate money for a state Senate PAC, even though he now rejects corporate money.
He denied any wrongdoing, but in that moment, it made the charges against Collins something of a wash. As the Globe’s James Pindell wrote, “If there was someone in Maine tuning in and struggling with their vote, it’s hard to know if they did anything other than shrug their shoulders at politicians being politicians and turn it off.”
There are also charges that Jackson’s campaign has been taken over by out-of-state staffers installed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. It’s a curious development, at odds with previous statements from Jackson that he would not support Schumer for majority leader if Democrats win back the Senate and would not want his help in the election.
In the end, this election is a test of whether being decent and slightly dull is better than being dazzling but deeply flawed — and whether not being Platner is enough to beat Collins.
Joan Vennochi is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at joan.vennochi@globe.com. Follow her @joan_vennochi.