Tipsheet

Graham Platner's Replacement Has Even More Problems Than We Thought

Democrats’ new Senate candidate in Maine isn’t much better than his predecessor, Graham Platner, who dropped out of the race after the party couldn’t continue pretending he was anything other than a total scumbag.

Former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson is poised to become the new nominee after edging out his opponents in a special selection process to replace Platner.

The candidate effectively locked up the nomination over the weekend by sweeping county delegate elections. American Prospect reported that he won the majority of the vote in a whopping 15 out of 16 counties and took over 90 percent of the delegates overall.

But, like Platner, Jackson also has some problems.

In September 2019, Jackson and his wife purchased a home in Augusta for $216,015 using a Federal Housing Administration mortgage that required the borrower to occupy the property as a principal residence for at least a year.

However, the candidate admitted that he did not fulfill this requirement. “This is unfortunate, but I never really read the forms,” he told the Portland Press Herald. He noted that he paid his mortgage broker “a lot of money” and that “He filled out the forms and me and my wife signed them.”

It’s not surprising Jackson would use that excuse, given that deflecting blame is to politicians what mustard is to a hot dog. Jackson’s broker, however, told a different story. “I mean, he’s a Senator. You’d think he would read forms and understand them,” he told the Maine Wire. The candidate later sold the home in December 2021 for $323,000.

Republican lawmakers filed ethics complaints against Jackson, but the Maine Ethics Commission said it lacked jurisdiction over potential federal occupancy fraud. No criminal charges were filed and I’m pretty sure I don’t have to explain why.

What’s interesting about Jackson is that he has done an about-face on several policy positions. He voted against legalizing same-sex marriage in 2009 and espoused more restrictive views on abortion. He later reversed both positions.

He is a typical far-left type, advocating for Medicare for All and slamming Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s operations across the country.