7 telling moments from Troy Jackson’s time as Maine Senate president - The Portland Press Herald

What the report says

The Portland Press Herald profiled Troy Jackson’s tenure as Maine Senate president as the 58-year-old Allagash Democrat and former logger prepares for a U.S. Senate campaign against Republican Susan Collins. The paper described Jackson as a working-class politician who said after his 2020 reelection as Senate president that he intended to lead emotionally and from personal experience, while also noting that his style has sometimes created conflict inside his own party.

According to the Press Herald, Jackson served 20 years in the Maine Legislature, including eight years as Senate Democratic leader and six years as Senate president from 2018 through 2024, a period when Democrats held the Legislature and governor’s office. The article highlighted his political evolution: he first ran as a socially conservative Republican in 2000, won as an independent two years later, and later became a Democrat. It cited his support for Gov. Janet Mills’ 2022 post-Dobbs abortion bill, which expanded access to medically necessary abortions later in pregnancy.

The profile also pointed to Jackson’s shift on gun policy after the October 2023 Lewiston mass shooting, in which 18 people were killed and 13 wounded. Though he had previously opposed gun-control measures and received NRA backing, Jackson supported 2024 Democratic proposals including expanded background checks, restrictions on rapid-fire devices and a three-day waiting period; lawmakers passed all three, though Mills vetoed the device ban.

The Press Herald further described tension between Jackson and Mills at the end of the 2024 session, when she rejected additional spending bills sent on veto day. It also noted one of Jackson’s signature wins: Maine’s move in 2021 to provide free meals to all public school students.