Harris Endorses Jackson as Maine Democrats’ Senate Nominee Against Collins

Kamala Harris, the former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, threw her support behind Troy Jackson on Monday as Maine’s Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate. In a fundraising message, Harris drew parallels to her own rapid ascent to the party’s top ticket, noting that Jackson would have just 101 days between his nomination and Election Day on November 3.

Jackson, a former Maine state senator who finished unsuccessfully in this year’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, secured the nomination at the Maine Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate Nominating Convention on Saturday. He replaces Graham Platner, who won the Democratic primary for the 2026 Senate seat last month but withdrew from the race after a rape allegation surfaced, which he has denied.

The Democratic nominee will face Republican incumbent Susan Collins, who has served in the Senate since 1997. Collins’ campaign characterized Harris’s support as evidence that Jackson understands the pressure of compressed campaign timelines, while national Republicans seized on the nomination process itself as undemocratic.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee criticized both Harris and Jackson in a statement, saying they were “bonding over their shared passion for completely bypassing primary voters.” The remark referenced Harris’s selection as the Democratic presidential nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew following poor debate performance against Donald Trump.