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<\/a><\/p>\nTroy Jackson, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, speaks during a demonstration outside of a federal immigration office, on July 14, 2026, in Scarborough, Maine. (Ryan Murphy\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But as the former logger and state Senate president now seeks a seat in the U.S. Senate, Jackson has begun staking out positions on something new \u2014 Israel. <\/p>\n
Facing one of the Democratic Party\u2019s most divisive issues, Jackson has embraced the label \u201cgenocide\u201d to describe Israel\u2019s war in Gaza and called for an end to U.S. military aid to Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is unconscionable. Anybody with eyes and a heart knows the Israeli government is committing genocide in Gaza. It has to end, and we as Americans have the power to end it,\u201d Jackson wrote in a post on X on July 9, responding to reports of a Palestinian aid worker killed by Israeli strikes. \u201cWhen I\u2019m in the U.S. Senate, I\u2019ll never vote in favor of US taxpayer-funded military aid to Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
A week later, Jackson also inveighed against AIPAC, the pro-Israel lobby that has become a frequent target of progressives. <\/p>\n
\u201cI pledge to lead for Maine voters by rejecting attempts to buy influence through unlimited personal wealth and dark money,\u201d Jackson wrote in a post on X. \u201cThat means rejecting all money from corporate PACs, AIPAC, and lobbyists from Big Oil and Big Pharma.\u201d<\/p>\n
For some Jews in Maine, Jackson\u2019s emergence has prompted unease. Some worry that his embrace of the term \u201cgenocide\u201d reflects a troubling shift in Democratic primaries across the country that many Jews have found alienating. Other Maine Jews, while somewhat hesitant, see the longtime Democrat as a pragmatic choice to represent the state and say they prefer him over Platner.<\/p>\n
Jackson\u2019s newfound efforts to speak out forcefully on Israel comes as he is likely to secure the Democratic nomination Saturday to take on Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a high-profile race that could determine control of the Senate. <\/p>\n
His policy statements and comments about Israel have mirrored the broader evolution of the race since the collapse of Graham Platner\u2019s campaign earlier this month. Platner, a staunch critic of Israel, bowed out of the race earlier this month following a sexual assault allegation that he has since denied. In the days that followed, some of the Democratic candidates who emerged to replace Platner but then dropped out, including Shenna Bellows and Jordan Wood, also began using the term \u201cgenocide\u201d for the first time.<\/p>\n
Jackson\u2019s campaign did not respond to a Jewish Telegraphic Agency request for comment about his views on Israel.<\/p>\n
For some Jews in Maine, Jackson\u2019s sudden emphasis on Israel has raised questions about whether his positions reflect a deeply held conviction or an effort to win over Platner\u2019s supporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do think that his rhetoric on Israel has been kind of like a \u2018pick me\u2019 appeal to the perception of what the Platner base is feeling about the whole thing,\u201d said Brian Kresge, president of Congregation Beth Israel in Bangor, who said he largely votes for Democrats. \u201cI don\u2019t know whether it\u2019s a closely held position because it\u2019s not something he said much about during the gubernatorial race (Jackson came in third place in the governor\u2019s race). It\u2019s not something I\u2019ve ever heard him talk about in his other forays in politics.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabbi Bill Siemers, the leader of Beth Israel, Maine\u2019s oldest active synagogue, said that he had found \u201cno evidence\u201d in Jackson\u2019s \u201csocial media or in his talks that this was an issue for him before very recently, and it\u2019s clear to me and to others that he brought this up so he could be the Senate nominee.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow we know where we are. We know where we stand, that this, at least in the upper levels of the Maine Democratic Party, this is a requirement, and that\u2019s not good,\u201d Siemers said, referring to the label of genocide. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think Jews want to have to go to the polls and vote on the basis of that, but they will,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
Jackson\u2019s rhetoric on Gaza earned praise from Our Revolution, the group formed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to advance the progressive movement. Jackson has won endorsements from both Sanders and Our Revolution, as well as left-wing streamer Hasan Piker, California Rep. Ro Khanna and Maine\u2019s Democratic Socialists of America chapter.<\/p>\n
\u201cTroy Jackson doesn\u2019t do word salad. He calls a genocide a genocide and says he\u2019ll never vote for taxpayer-funded military aid to fund it,\u201d the group wrote in a Facebook post earlier this month. \u201cThat\u2019s what Maine voters delivered a historic win for on June 9, what other contender in Maine will actually say it?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jackson, 58, is a fifth-generation logger from northern Maine and first entered politics in 1998 by leading a logging blockade along the Maine-Canada border to protest corporations hiring low-wage foreign workers. In 2000, he launched an unsuccessful Republican bid for the state House before later winning a seat two years later as an independent. <\/p>\n
He ran again for re-election in 2004 as a Democrat and won, kicking off a two-decade long career in state politics where he maintained strong union ties and progressive views. Jackson also once voiced opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion, both positions he has since reversed.<\/p>\n
In 2024, at the Maine State Democratic Convention, Jackson, who served as convention chairman, reportedly attempted to quiet down a small group of pro-Palestinian protesters who called Maine Rep. Jared Golden a \u201cwar criminal\u201d during a video celebrating the Jewish congressman.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe in the ability of people to demonstrate and protest,\u201d Jackson said amid the outburst. \u201cThere is a time for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, Jackson came in third place in the state\u2019s Democratic primary for governor. During his campaign, he pledged not to take \u201cdark money,\u201d but did not specifically reject AIPAC, which typically spends in federal races.<\/p>\n
During Platner\u2019s campaign, Jackson campaigned alongside him and endorsed his candidacy until Platner was accused of sexual assault. Following the allegation, he joined other progressive leaders in calling for Platner to drop out.<\/p>\n
Going into Saturday\u2019s nominating convention, Kresge said that there was still a \u201cpalpable sense of relief\u201d among the local Jewish community that Platner, whose Nazi-linked tattoo had sparked outcry among Jewish Mainers, was out of the race.<\/p>\n
\u201cTroy Jackson may sound alike on a lot of these issues, but he\u2019s not burdened by \u2013 well, he is burdened by some accusations and stuff \u2014but he\u2019s not burdened by a Reddit history,\u201d Kresge said. \u201cHe has an actual political resume to run on.\u201d<\/p>\n
While some Jewish Mainers questioned Jackson\u2019s recent rhetoric on Israel, others said his long record in local government offered some assurances.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know Troy Jackson, but I think having a resume to fall back on, and having been in the position where he\u2019s had to make compromises and understand the difference between spouting a popular slogan versus getting things done, I think is a small measure of comfort,\u201d said Matt Tzuker, a Jewish resident of Portland.<\/p>\n
Maine State Rep. Laurie Osher, who is Jewish and said she was ready to vote for Jackson, said that she hoped that Jackson would be able to \u201ckeep up the momentum\u201d that Platner had gained during his campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got my vote because I have worked with him,\u201d Osher said. \u201cFor every moment that I found him doing something I didn\u2019t think was great, he was also open to me telling him why I didn\u2019t think it was great, and I saw him do better.\u201d<\/p>\n