Maine can sure pick them. Troy Jackson, the Democrat who replaced Graham Platner, who dropped out due to rape allegations, domestic abuse claims, Nazi tattoos, graphic social media history, and a host of other issues, isn’t far behind in the race to see who the most damaged goods Democrats can hoist up for elected office. Jackson does not have Nazi tattoos, but he’s been in a relationship with his cousin for four decades and might have pushed her around. 

RedState touched on this first, but Bangor Daily News reported that in 1988, Jackson allegedly got handsy with Lana Pelletier, his cousin, and punched another man in Fort Kent, Maine. Pelletier added that she has no recollection of the statements she gave to police during this incident in Aroostook County (via Bangor Daily News):

Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson’s longtime partner told an officer he “pushed her around” after Jackson broke down a door and punched a man at a Fort Kent home in 1988, according to a police report obtained exclusively by the Bangor Daily News.

Jackson, who was 19 at the time, does not dispute the assault of the man, a misdemeanor charge resolved by a fine. But Lana Pelletier, who has been in a relationship with Jackson for roughly 40 years, says she has no memory of making the statement attributed to her by police and denied he pushed her. In a statement, Jackson denied he had ever been violent with her.

“Nearly [40] years ago, when I was 19 years old, I got into a fight with another man. I took responsibility for it then, and I take responsibility for it now,” Jackson said in a statement. “But let me be clear: I have never been violent with my partner Lana, or any other woman. This happened nearly four decades ago, and I assure Mainers this incident in no way reflects the man I am today or the life I’ve led in the years since.”

[…]

Jackson, a former Maine Senate president from Allagash who is now 58, does not have a criminal record, according to a background check run by the BDN. The 1988 case was the only criminal one linked to Jackson in a search of state court records. The underlying court file has been destroyed under the judicial system’s retention schedule.

But the report at the Fort Kent Police Department and a handwritten witness statement lay out an account of that night.

Just before 2 a.m. on March 12, 1988, Jackson went to a home on Market Street in Fort Kent. When he knocked on the door, one occupant told him to go away, according to the police report. Jackson refused, and that’s when he “kicked the door in,” the victim’s handwritten statement to police said.

A friend of Jackson’s who was there tried to hold him back but could not, the victim’s statement said. Jackson then went after the man, grabbed him by the throat and swung at him, hitting his glasses and cutting the man’s face, the report and victim statement said. 

The victim grabbed Jackson and held him by one arm and his throat until one of Jackson’s friends got between the two men, the victim said. Jackson told the man to “stay away from Lana Pelletier or else,” the victim’s statement said.

Pelletier, who is called Jackson’s ex-girlfriend in the police report, allegedly told the responding officer that Jackson pushed her following the assault and that she planned to go to court to get “cease harassment papers” against him. But there is no record of Pelletier ever doing so, and she denied telling police those things in a statement released by Jackson’s campaign.

The Democrats sure know how to pick them in Maine? On this, there will certainly be questions, fair or not, about Jackson’s temperament since he was known for being a flat-out angry man who would explode at his colleagues, even leadership, and throw things onto the ground in frustration. The cousin angle is not illegal, just a bit of a play into stereotypes, but not being married means that some aspects of Jackson and Pelletier’s financial statements might not be the whole truth. And now there’s an allegation of domestic abuse that’s denied by Pelletier, but one could argue that’s due to the political circumstances. 

More to the point, Jackson ran for governor this year and lost. It’s amusing that Democrats don’t want this guy for governor, but oh yeah, he’d make a good senator. They’re just desperate to find anyone to run against Susan Collins, and Jackson, for better or worse, was their only option. Did you see the debate for those who briefly ran to replace Platner? Holy hell. Jackson being the top guy also doesn’t say much.