Tipsheet

Maine Democrats Have Another Candidate in Mind to Replace Platner, but This One's Problematic As Well

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  July 07, 2026 10:00 AM

Earlier, Townhall noted that Maine Democrats were considering Nirav Shah, the former CDC Director in the Biden administration, as a replacement for Democrat Graham Platner. While Platner hasn't dropped out of the Senate race yet, another bombshell allegation last night has deeply damaged his campaign. Several Democrats have withdrawn their endorsements of Platner and called on him to leave the race after a woman Platner was dating alleged he raped her five years ago.

There's another name being tossed about, too. That's Troy Jackson, who ran for governor and came in fifth behind Shah, who finished second.

But Progressive Victory is warning that Jackson also has problems with his behavior. This time, it's alleged Jackson threw a water bottle during a 'heated disagreement' with a colleague, and that bottle struck the woman.

"In our discussions, we have received troubling information about not only Jackson’s behavior, but the behavior of many prominent Maine Democrats toward women more broadly. Both as a result of the credibility of the sources and in the interest of not seeing our movement make the same mistake twice, we are choosing to share some of this now," the post reads. "As Maine Senate President in a state senate caucus meeting several years ago, Troy Jackson, in a heated disagreement, struck a female colleague with a bottle he threw at her. There are many witnesses, and it appears this is a widespread open secret within Maine politics and not an isolated incident. This information is still developing and we will provide updates in a thread in the comments of this post as we receive it."

The thread continues with screenshots of a Signal chat outlining the concerns about Jackson.

A former staffer is claiming the incident never happened.

"Additionally, while it is relevant that people within Jackson’s camp are denying the claim, It is not a credible refutation on its own. We are continuing to investigate," Progressive Victory wrote on X.

This shows a troubling pattern of angry, abusive behavior by progressive men that Democrats want to elevate to the Senate.

Of course, it's hard to see how the Democrats — who were fine with and dismissive of every allegation against Platner until yesterday afternoon — won't simply brush aside these accusations, if they're true.