Leading Collins in New Poll, Jackson Says Maine Can't Afford 6 More Years of GOP Senator's 'Concern'

With three days to go until Maine's statewide convention, where delegates will officially nominate the Democratic US Senate candidate who will face Republican Sen. Susan Collins, presumptive nominee Troy Jackson is hitting the ground running—denouncing Collins' repeated claims of "concern" over the MAGA agenda she's enabled as he points to recent polling in his favor.

"Working Mainers can’t afford six more years of 'concern,'" Jackson said on social media Tuesday evening after the University of New Hampshire released polling from July 15-20 that showed 49% of respondents backing the former state Senate president and logger, compared with 46% who supported the five-term senator.

The poll was released days after Jackson swept last weekend's 16 county-level nominating meetings, where voters selected the delegates who will go to the convention on Saturday. Jackson won 478 out of 500 delegates who were voted on last weekend; 100 state committee members will also take part in the convention, and how they intend to vote is unknown, but Jackson has emerged as the clear front-runner after former candidate Graham Platner dropped out of the race due to sexual assault allegations, which he denied.

Following the county meetings, Jackson's top opponents, including Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, epidemiologist Nirav Shah, and activist Jordan Wood, dropped out of the race and endorsed him.

Jackson, who ran for governor earlier this year, has also received endorsements from top labor unions in Maine and current and former state lawmakers, while garnering $1 million from more than 25,000 donors since he first expressed interest in succeeding Platner as the Democratic candidate just over two weeks ago.

"Susan Collins has billionaires. We have a movement," said Jackson on Wednesday.

He also posted a video of a recent speech he gave in York County, emphasizing his desire to include all working people in his push to unseat Collins.

"There is a place for you in this movement, because we're not going to defeat Susan Collins by making this movement smaller," said Jackson. "I know what happens when working people decide that they've had enough. When we do, we stand up, we lock arms, we fight back, and then we win."

Jackson also sought on Wednesday to tie Collins, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, to President Donald Trump. He has previously pointed to Collins' vote in favor of funding US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, particularly in light of an ICE agent's killing of Biddeford, Maine resident Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, and on Wednesday posted a photo of Collins with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

The senator presided over a committee hearing Tuesday regarding the cost of Trump's $37.5 billion war on Iran, and signaled a willingness to provide $33 billion more.

"For 30 years, Susan Collins has told us that she's concerned, she's told us that she's troubled, and she's told us that she's disappointed, but when the stakes are the absolute highest, too often, she stood with Donald Trump," said Jackson at a recent rally. "We need courage, we need a fighter, and we need someone who remembers exactly who sent them to Washington."

Since announcing his candidacy, Jackson has also spoken out in favor of Medicare for All—supported by 78% of Democrats, 71% of Independents, and nearly half of Republicans in a Data for Progress poll last year—and on Tuesday Collins attacked him as "firmly aligned with the democratic socialists."

Candidates who are members of the Democratic Socialists of America and who back universal social programs have won recent elections in New York, Colorado, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Jackson told NBC News Tuesday: "I see myself as a Mainer and a working-class person. You know, we have socialism in the state with public schools, with plowing the roads... I don’t see myself as anything but a guy that wants to make good change for people I care about.”

On social media, he turned Collins' frequent refrain back around on her.

"Very concerned," he said.