Troy Jackson, the Maine Democrat set to replace Graham Platner in the U.S. Senate race against Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), repeatedly yelled and cursed at fellow state lawmakers during his years leading the Maine Senate, according to a Washington Post report published Monday.
More than two dozen people spoke to the Post for the report. Several requested anonymity, telling the outlet they did not want to anger Jackson or give Republicans an opening in a race Democrats are counting on to help retake the Senate. Jackson himself would not sit for an interview about his temper.
According to the Post, Jackson clashed with then-state Sen. Heather Sanborn in 2021 as the two disagreed over a prescription drug bill. At one point, he threw a water bottle.
“He was an inch from her nose, screaming and hollering and haranguing her,” one former colleague who was in the room told the outlet.
Multiple former lawmakers said Sanborn left the Senate that day and did not return for several days. Sanborn, now Maine’s public advocate for utility ratepayers, declined to comment.
At the end of Jackson’s tenure, the five other top legislative leaders and the governor were all women. In a separate 2021 dispute, former Rep. Charlotte Warren posted afterward that straight, White men “are too emotional to be in politics.” She now endorses his Senate run.
Campaign adviser BJ McCollister said there were “moments when he let his frustration get the better of him,” but he denied the behavior rose to intimidation. He described it as a product of Jackson’s passion for the policies he fights for.
Jackson insisted the reporting would not derail his bid, claiming there “isn’t going to be anything” that sinks his campaign.
The report comes as Maine Democrats prepare to formally nominate Jackson at a Saturday convention in Bangor, replacing Platner, who withdrew this month after a former girlfriend accused him of sexual assault, an allegation he denied.
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