Former President Barack Obama endorsed Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson in a video released this week, giving the challenger a late-race boost as he locks horns with incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins less than a month before Election Day.
The endorsement brings national Democratic heavyweights directly into one of the country’s most fiercely contested congressional battles. In a YouTube video message backing the campaign, Obama praised Jackson.
Bernie Sanders Joins Troy Jackson for Maine Tour
Jackson is also leaning heavily on Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Sanders is scheduled to join Jackson for a multi-city tour across Maine, hitting rallies in Bangor, Lewiston, and Biddeford.
Campaign spokesman Dan Gottlieb stated that they were excited to welcome Bernie Sanders to Maine to rally with Troy Jackson. The visit comes after Graham Platner dropped out of the Senate race in Maine in July following a rape allegation he denied, which deflated many Democrats who had rallied to his campaign. In the final weeks of a close contest, Jackson and his allies are still trying to excite voters who were disillusioned after the summer switch, prompting Senator Bernie Sanders to decamp to the state for a three-rally trip to try to energize the campaign.
Crosscurrents of Endorsements and Centrist Pushback
The race has drawn contrasting interventions from national political figures. While Democrats rally around Jackson, former Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia crossed party lines to endorse Collins, praising the incumbent as the soul of the Senate
during an appearance on CNBC.
Manchin and Collins previously collaborated on major bipartisan legislation, including the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Collins welcomed the backing, pointing to their history of working across party lines on COVID relief and federal funding initiatives for Maine. Manchin left the Democratic Party in May 2024 to register as an independent, having frequently clashed with progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders over the size of former President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda while repeatedly warning Democratic colleagues that excessive spending would fuel inflation.
Troy Jackson Leads Susan Collins in Tight Polling
Recent polling depicts a razor-thin contest defined by the stark choice between a longtime incumbent and a populist challenger. Polling continues to show the Democrat Troy Jackson locked in a tight contest against incumbent Republican Susan Collins in Maine’s U.S. Senate race, with the polling aggregator Decision Desk HQ having Jackson at 49.3 percent and Collins at 47.1 percent.
At the same time, Jackson has faced challenges following his entry into the race in July, when he replaced Democratic nominee Graham Platner. Surveys and polling aggregators reflect a competitive environment where Jackson remains ahead on headline issues such as health care, the cost of living, understanding Maine voters’ problems, reducing corruption in Washington, and abortion, while Collins leads on bringing federal government funds to Maine and working across party lines.