Maine Democrats took a step Saturday toward finding a Senate nominee to replace Graham Platner, picking hundreds of delegates to the party’s convention next week and bringing momentum to one candidate: Troy Jackson.
After Democrats held a day of meetings in crowded college lecture halls, middle school gymnasiums, warehouses, community centers and virtual gatherings, Mr. Jackson, a former president of the state Senate, said he got a big turnout in the eight counties that voted Saturday for their delegates.
A review of district results, as well as campaign delegate credentials, as well as interviews with Democratic operatives, voters and candidates point to a very successful showing for him, as other variables – including next week’s high-profile debate – could still change the race.
“I’ve been getting messages all day about, you know, what a great job I did,” said Mr. Jackson, a logger by trade, added, “You all just smoked it,” in a video his campaign posted on Facebook.
Eight other districts in the state had yet to choose their delegates, and the full scope of Mr. And while some delegates spell out their preferences in their nomination papers and campaign forms, they can still change their minds before the meeting.
But it was clear on Saturday night that Mr. Jackson has built a bright future for himself in the busy race. The convention nominee will face Senator Susan Collins, who is considered one of the most vulnerable Republicans these days but has defied political gravity in her Democratic-leaning state for decades.
In many ways, the day seemed less about small-town democracy and more about the political careers candidates can build in the 10 days since Mr.
The campaign of Mr. Jackson announced that he will host the gate at the party’s York County meeting on Sunday morning following his “commanding performance” on Saturday.
Other campaigns have struck different notes.
Jordan Wood, who joined the Senate race after losing in the House Primary last month, said the results were “shocking.” He was surprised, he said in an interview, that he and Dr. Nirav Shah, the runner-up in the Democratic primary for governor, has not received much support in caucus meetings.
Dr Shah did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Neither did Dan Kleban, a brewery owner who revived the Senate campaign he had left in the fall.
Shenna Bellows, secretary of state of Maine who was defeated by Mrs. Collins in 2014 and came in fourth place in the lower police ranks for governor, he continued to express his confidence on social media.
“No one in Maine has the same record of standing up for Trump as I do,” Ms. Bellows wrote on Facebook Saturday night. “I can’t wait to take that fight to the United States Senate.”
Democratic county groups in Maine were faced with the difficult task of whittling down a field of nearly 3,700,500 delegates to a caucus of 500 delegates Sunday night. Those few chosen will join about 100 members of the state party committee in voting for the party’s new Senate nominee at next week’s meeting.
The party entered a difficult caucus process after Mr. Platner ended his campaign earlier this month, following allegations of rape, which he denies. The group was racing against a July 27 deadline to select a new candidate, and created a nomination process from scratch.
About 11,500 Mainers participated and voted in Saturday’s caucuses, Maine Democratic Party executive director Devon Murphy-Anderson said in a video posted on social media Saturday night. 19,000 Democrats are expected to participate throughout the weekend, he said.
“Meetings like this usually take months,” Wayne Kinney, chairman of the Franklin County Democrats, told voters at a meeting in Farmington Saturday morning. “Here, we did this in days.”
In Cumberland County, the state’s most populous county and which includes Portland, the Zoom rally to select 149 delegates out of nearly 1,300 candidates was silent and faceless for most of the three-and-a-half-hour voting period.
Voters were sent ballots by email and text.
At the end of the night, the chairman, Joseph Zamboni, broke the tie for 30th place by removing one of the two names from the baseball cap he had placed on him when he removed his eyes.
Candidates travel around the country all day, seeking to appear in as many public gatherings as possible. Dr. Shah, a former public health official, brought green “Shah for Senate” signs and fielded supporters in Calais, Wiscasset and Augusta, while Mr. Kleban talking to voters in Augusta and Farmington.
This process will continue on Sunday as the other eight regions will choose their delegates.
Peter Stein, a 67-year-old scientist and engineer who was elected as a Franklin County delegate, volunteered to Mr. Jackson during his unsuccessful run for governor and previously supported Mr. Platner.
“Jackson is a Mainer his whole life and he talks like one. That’s important to people,” said Mr. Stein, adding, “He’s incredibly smart, puts smart people around him and wears his heart on his sleeve.”
He pointed out the difference between Mr. Jackson and Dr. Shah, he said, was very much an outsider. Dr. Shah moved to the state in 2019 to lead the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Others were less certain about who they would return.
Anne Smith, 70, a retired translator who was also elected as a Franklin County delegate, said at the beginning of Saturday’s meeting she had made up her mind.
“I want to wait another week, almost a week, and weigh all the options, listen to the debates, do more research,” said Ms. Smith before she was selected as one of the nine delegates from the district. “And then I will be ready to commit.”
On Sunday in York County, where the campaign of Mr. Jackson will hold the core, more than 80 delegates will be elected at the meeting to be held in Sanford, on the southwestern edge of the state.
“It looks like Troy is in the catbird position,” said David Farmer, a Democratic consultant in Maine. “If his messengers are true, and I have no reason to believe they won’t be.”
