Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows ended her Senate campaign on Sunday in Sanford, further clearing the path for former state Senate President Troy Jackson as he built support for the Democratic nomination, and several of his opponents dropped out and endorsed him as party committees across the state began choosing delegates ahead of a nominating convention set for July 25 to select a candidate to face Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.
Bellows said in a statement, "Donald Trump’s attacks on our democracy are only accelerating, and the best way that I can serve our state and country at this moment is by focusing exclusively on my role as Secretary of State." She also said, "This has been an unprecedented nominating process, compressed into days instead of months, and I'm grateful to every volunteer who worked around the clock for this movement. That energy is exactly what we need to beat Susan Collins in November — and Democrats don't have a day to waste in unifying around that shared goal."
Graham Platner ended his campaign last week after a report that a woman who used to date him accused him of sexual assault; he has denied the allegation. Platner had won the Democratic primary before withdrawing earlier this month.
York County Democratic Party Chairwoman Kathie Purdy announced Bellows' decision just as Democrats gathered at a performing arts center began casting ballots for delegates to the July 25 convention, eliciting gasps from the crowd.
Jackson’s campaign said it had secured hundreds of delegates who had promised to back him at the convention, including all of its preferred delegates for Cumberland County, and his slate captured nearly all of the slots up for grabs in Saturday’s county meetings.
Nirav Shah, the former director of Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention, dropped out Sunday and endorsed Jackson. He was followed by Dan Kleban, the co-founder of Maine Beer Company, and Jordan Wood, who also dropped out and endorsed Jackson. Our Revolution, a progressive organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders, threw its support behind Jackson.
Jackson is 58 and was a logger before he became a politician. He was elected to the state legislature in 2002 and ultimately became president of Maine’s senate. He left office in 2024 due to term limits and earlier this year unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for governor with Platner’s backing.
The statewide nominating convention to pick a replacement candidate will meet on July 25 in Bangor.
Though not legally binding, over two-thirds of the 601 delegates have committed to voting for Jackson at that statewide convention.
Maine is considered a must-win state in the Democratic Party's effort to take control of the U.S. Senate.