Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson has deleted numerous social media posts in which he praised Graham Platner, who recently faced public allegations of sexual assault. Jackson, a former Maine Senate president and longtime state legislator, was an outspoken supporter of Platner until the accusations surfaced earlier this month.
Platner, a Marine veteran and oyster farmer, was accused of sexual assault by a former girlfriend, prompting increased scrutiny of his past and affiliations. Following the allegations, Platner withdrew from the Senate race, creating a vacancy in the Democratic field.
An analysis of Jackson’s social media activity, using archived data from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, indicates that the 58-year-old candidate removed around 20 posts endorsing or praising Platner. Among the deleted posts was one from May on the platform X (formerly Twitter), in which Jackson described Platner as “exactly the sort of Democrat that Susan Collins and the Republican Party don’t know how to handle,” affirming his endorsement at that time. At the point of that post, Jackson was competing in the Democratic primary for governor.
Jackson ultimately finished third in the ranked-choice voting primary for governor. Subsequently, attention turned to him as a potential replacement candidate in the Senate race after Platner’s departure, partly due to Jackson’s progressive reputation and endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
The sequence of events highlights tensions within Maine’s Democratic Party as it navigates candidate controversies ahead of the upcoming election. Jackson’s rapid removal of his prior statements of support suggests an effort to distance himself from Platner amid the growing controversy over the allegations.
As the Democratic Party seeks to consolidate its Senate nominee ahead of the general election, the impact of these developments on voters and campaign dynamics remains to be seen. Both Jackson and Platner have faced heightened scrutiny as Maine Democrats reassess their strategies in response to the unforeseen candidate upheaval.