Troy Jackson emerges as Democratic pick as top Maine Senate candidates step aside
Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows and former public health official Nirav Shah ended their Senate campaigns Sunday.
Updated July 19, 2026, 9:29 PM CDT
By Bridget Bowman
SANFORD, Maine — Former state Senate President Troy Jackson emerged from a whirlwind weekend of voting as Maine Democrats’ likely pick to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins.
By Sunday night, all of Jackson’s major opponents had dropped out of the race, including Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, physician Nirav Shah and former congressional staffer Jordan Wood, who reversed course after initially committing to remain in the race.
Bellows made her announcement Sunday morning, while Shah exited the race Sunday evening after Democrats across the state selected delegates to next week’s state nominating convention. Jackson quickly established a seemingly insurmountable advantage in delegates as his supporters swept counties throughout the state.
Jackson’s supporters won 481 of the 500 convention seats up for grabs this weekend, according to his campaign. Those delegates are not technically required to support Jackson at the convention, but with such a strong showing, his nomination became a foregone conclusion.
A logger and former legislator, Jackson doesn’t officially become the nominee until the state convention next week. There, delegates will pick a new nominee to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins, replacing primary winner Graham Platner after he abruptly ended his campaign last week following a sexual assault allegation, which he denied.
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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2026-election/shenna-bellows-drops-maines-senate-race-troy-jackson-builds-democratic-rcna588242
