Maine Democrats’ frantic search for a new Senate nominee is rapidly turning into a coronation.
Former Maine CDC Director Nirav Shah suspended his campaign Sunday and endorsed former state Senate President Troy Jackson, joining a growing exodus of candidates attempting to replace scandal-plagued oyster farmer Graham Platner.
“A few weeks ago, I entered this race because I could not accept the idea of Susan Collins gliding to a sixth term at the very moment Maine families are being forced to pay the price for her votes,” Shah wrote in a statement on X.
“Today, I am stepping aside, and I am doing it for exactly the same reason that led me to get in: we must defeat Susan Collins, and the Democratic Party must be unified to do it,” he added.
Shah’s exit came just one day after he argued before Democrat activists in Augusta that he was the party’s most electable option.
“The key to defeating Senator Collins is achieving party unity,” Shah said Saturday. “The candidate who can keep Democrats unified is going to be the candidate who is most able to defeat her. … I am the candidate that has the strongest case for electability.”
Less than 24 hours later, Shah concluded Jackson was the candidate best positioned to take on Collins.
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, brewery executive Dan Kleban and former congressional candidate Jordan Wood also ended their campaigns Sunday. Shah, Kleban and Wood endorsed Jackson, while Bellows said she would concentrate on her duties as secretary of state.
Jackson’s supporters dominated the weekend’s county meetings, capturing nearly all of the roughly 500 delegate positions being selected. His campaign claimed support from approximately 480 delegates—comfortably above the 301 votes needed for a majority at Saturday’s 601-member convention.
Delegates are not formally bound to support Jackson, meaning his nomination will not become official until the July 25 gathering in Bangor. But with all four of his best-known rivals now out, the former logger and longtime state lawmaker appears to have effectively cleared the field.
The extraordinary replacement process was triggered by Platner’s stunning collapse less than a month after he won the June 9 Democratic primary.
Platner announced July 8 that he would suspend his campaign after a former girlfriend accused him of entering her home intoxicated in 2021 and forcing her to have sex despite her repeated objections. Platner strongly denied the allegation and formally withdrew his candidacy two days later. Maine Public reported that the accusation prompted a wave of Democratic officials and organizations to abandon his campaign. (RELATED: Graham Platner Suspends Senate Campaign Amid Growing Sexual Assault Allegations)
“We believe that for the movement to continue, it can’t be me,” Platner said while announcing his departure.
The allegation proved to be the final blow for a campaign that had survived months of damaging disclosures.
Another former girlfriend had previously accused Platner of twisting her arm and preventing her from leaving a room during arguments—claims he also denied. He separately apologized for inflammatory Reddit posts in which he called police officers “bastards,” described himself as a communist and disparaged rural white Americans as “racist” or “stupid.”
Platner also faced scrutiny over a skull-and-crossbones tattoo resembling a Nazi-era Totenkopf symbol. He said he had not known about the symbol’s association when he received the tattoo while serving overseas and later had it covered.
Despite those controversies, Platner secured the Democratic nomination with support from prominent progressive figures. That coalition collapsed after the latest accusation surfaced, leaving state party officials with only weeks to place a replacement on the November ballot.
Under Maine law, the state Democratic Party is responsible for filling the vacancy. More than 17,000 registered Democrats participated in the hastily organized delegate-selection meetings, according to the state party.
Jackson, who spent two decades in the Maine Legislature and served six years as state Senate president, has pitched himself as the candidate capable of retaining Platner’s populist supporters without carrying his political baggage.
He is now poised to challenge Collins, the only Republican member of Congress from New England, in one of the most closely watched Senate races of the midterm elections.
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