In a process described as “extraordinary” by Maine Democratic leaders, the state’s 16 counties chose delegates this weekend who will convene on Saturday in Bangor to determine the party’s U.S. Senate candidate.
Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson of Allagash swept the two-day stretch, winning more than 450 of the 500 delegates elected.
At the close of Saturday’s voting, Jackson had netted 290 of the 319 delegates chosen that day. On Sunday, he clinched the majority of public support needed to face off against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in November.
That contest would pit two long-serving Aroostook County natives against one another on the national stage.
Collins, originally from Caribou, is running for an unprecedented sixth term. If the Aroostook County native succeeds, she would become the longest serving senator in Maine history. Jackson represented the St. John Valley in the Maine Legislature for a combined 14 years, six of those as Senate president. Should he win, he’ll unseat a 30-year Maine political veteran.
Party leaders organized the caucuses in just over a week following the withdrawal of Graham Platner, who topped ballots in the June 9 primaries. Platner’s exit left Democrats scrambling to find a replacement for the November ballot.
Most voting took place in person, but five counties — Aroostook, Androscoggin, Cumberland, Penobscot and Waldo — held gatherings virtually.
The 500 elected delegates will join 101 from the state Democratic committee. They are not required to vote for Jackson during Saturday’s convention at the Cross Insurance Center, but those who backed him have declared their support publicly.
Aroostook’s caucus took place Sunday afternoon via Zoom. Allison Willette, Aroostook County Democrats chair, welcomed the gathering.
“All of us are participating in something extraordinary,” Willette said, adding it usually takes months to organize a caucus. “We had 10 days.”
Willette appointed Marcia Gartley as meeting secretary and Melanie Tompkins as sergeant-at-arms.
Willette read a letter from Maine Democratic Party Chair Charlie Dingman, which noted caucus participants statewide “are part of an extraordinary effort to select our candidate for an office of national significance.” Delegates next weekend could “put the brakes on a corrupt, cruel and irresponsible” administration in Washington, Dingman wrote, referencing the killing in Biddeford of Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
Voting happened off screen and took roughly an hour and 15 minutes, ending at 5:30 p.m. The Maine Democratic Party tabulated the results.
Aroostook was the last county to report.
The following 15 delegates were elected: Michael Carpenter of Houlton; Paula Charette of Fort Kent; Colleen McBreairty of Allagash; Jordyn Rossignol of Caribou; Clayton McBreairty of Allagash; Samantha Paradis of Fort Kent; Vaughn McLaughlin of Fort Fairfield; Melanie Reese of Presque Isle; Shelly Mountain of Mapleton; Jon Conlogue of Houlton; Roland Martin of Cross Lake Township; Charles Betit of Fort Fairfield; Leo Trudel of Stockholm; Roger Roy of Caribou and James Gerritsen of Bridgewater.
Alternates are Rommy Haines Jr. of Fort Fairfield. Melanie Tompkins of Mapleton and Marcia Gartley of Presque Isle.
Misinformation had been circulating about the nomination process, Willette said.
“To be clear, the election is not being determined at this time,” Willette said. “The lists that have been circulated by campaigns are inaccurate, [with some people] supposedly supporting multiple candidates.”
On June 9, approximately 5,000 of Aroostook’s 11,000 registered Democrats voted in the primaries, Willette said, and urged party members to examine the platforms of all candidates to determine the best person to defeat Collins in November.
Candidate Shenna Bellows dropped out of the race on Sunday, as did Dr. Nirav Shah. Shah reportedly was transferring his support to Jackson. The remaining candidates are Jordan Wood, Paige Loud, David Costello, Dan Kleban, Saundra Pelletier, former State Rep. Elizabeth Dickerson, Elizabeth Cote, Joseph Leveille, Kristina Libby and Ashley Webb.
Reporters attended caucus sites statewide. The Bangor Daily News monitored the caucuses with partners from the Midcoast Villager and Lincoln County News.
See how the BDN reported the weekend’s action here.
The BDN also tracked the candidates as votes came in. See county results here.
