Troy Jackson

Subject: Troy Jackson, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Maine, 2026, former Maine Senate president, logger and union organizer Compiled: October 25, 2026 for the On Point Politics watchdog database, onpointpolitics.us Data cutoff: September 30, 2026 for campaign filings, reported October 15, 2026. Personal finance disclosure filed October 5, 2026. Next scheduled data drop: FEC pre-general report covering through October 14, 2026, and the post-general report due December 3, 2026.

Bottom line up front

Jackson became the nominee at a special Democratic convention in late July 2026, after Graham Platner left the race. Jackson had finished third in the June primary for governor, per the BDN on October 15, 2026, bangordailynews.com. In his first quarter as nominee he raised $20.4 million, about four times what Collins raised, and spent $16.5 million. He entered October with $4 million in cash and about $1 million owed to a vendor.

Three interests combine money and a decision:

1. Small donors. ActBlue processed $17.1 million, about 90 percent of his individual receipts. The campaign says nearly 200,000 donors gave and 95 percent of gifts were under $100.
2. Labor unions. Unions are his PAC money and his paycheck. The Machinists paid him $90,000 and the Painters $48,000 as a consultant from March 2025 into 2026, through his run for governor. Both unions also gave his Senate campaign $5,000 each. The lever is labor law and NLRB confirmations.
3. Senate Democratic leadership. WinSenate, funded by Senate Majority PAC, booked $38.6 million in Maine ads. The decision is Senate control.

Committee structure and treasurer

The campaign committee's FEC ID and treasurer were not verified in this pass. He filed his first quarterly report late, saying "It was my first one. I had to make sure it was right." Some consulting income ran through his company, Jackson Associates, per the Press Herald on October 7, 2026, pressherald.com. No leadership PAC was found.

Spending. About three quarters of the $16.4 million went to advertising, mostly through TKO Buying LLC of Chevy Chase, Maryland and Sage Media Planning and Placement of Washington, per the Press Herald on October 15, 2026, pressherald.com. Donor list acquisition cost $1.5 million, the second largest expense.

Bloc: Small donors

Documented. ActBlue processed $17.1 million. The average ActBlue gift in July and August was about $50. Some 960 donors gave $3,500 or more, 130 of them from Maine, and many gave $7,000 because the July convention counted as a separate election. About $1.1 million was designated to that contest. About 85 percent of disclosed money came from outside Maine, the same share as Collins. A BDN review found seven billionaires gave his campaign $24,500.

Inference: The out of state share undercuts a Maine first message, but it matches Collins. Neither candidate can use it cleanly.

Bloc: Labor unions

Documented. Nearly 80 PACs gave $352,000, many of them unions. He pledged not to take corporate PAC money, and the pledge excludes unions. His Senate disclosure lists $90,000 from the International Association of Machinists, $50,000 in 2025 and $40,000 in 2026, and $48,000 from the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, $30,000 in 2025 and $18,000 in 2026. Both list him as a general consultant, per the BDN on October 8, 2026, bangordailynews.com. The Machinists paid him from March 2025 until August, after he filed in July to explore replacing Platner. Our extract of the BDN gives that end year as 2025, but the $40,000 paid in 2026 means it must be 2026; the year should be checked against the disclosure. The Painters paid him through June 2026, when he lost the governor's primary. He also earned $5,100 from the Eastern Maine Labor Council and $4,800 from Food and Medicine, a Brewer 501c4, in 2025.

Painters District Council 35, IUPAT and the Machinists funded Working Mainers First PAC, which spent more than $900,000 on ads for his governor bid. His campaign said he did not talk to union officials about the group's plans. The IAM Maine State Council and the UAW endorsed him, per the unions' own posts whose bodies were not read.

What they want. Not stated as an ask. His platform runs on labor and blue collar identity.

His response. The campaign said the disclosure "reflects a lifetime of working for a paycheck" and that he no longer does the consulting. It did not describe the work beyond "consulting and organizing services on national and labor issues."

Inference: Unions paid the candidate personally while also funding a super PAC that backed him. The filings show both payments. They do not show coordination, and the campaign denies it.

Bloc: Senate Democratic leadership

Documented. WinSenate, aligned with the Senate Democrats' campaign arm, booked $38.6 million in Maine ads. Senate Majority PAC funds it. About a third of SMP money through June came from Majority Forward, a nonprofit that does not disclose donors, per Issue One as relayed by the BDN on October 19, 2026, bangordailynews.com. Outside groups spent $53.9 million backing him since he took the nomination, per AdImpact via the BDN.

Inference: Jackson attacks Collins over dark money, while the largest group on his side draws on a donor who does not disclose either.

Own finances and disclosure history

He filed his Senate disclosure on October 5, 2026 after a 55 day extension. Collins's campaign noted the filing came at 9:54 p.m. on the last day. He and his partner report $147,000 to $430,000 in assets, including $100,000 to $250,000 in her state retirement benefits and his pension at $15,001 to $50,000. He listed commercial real estate in Allagash owned by his partner at $15,000 to $50,000, with no income. No logging income was listed.

Enforcement and controversies

• Augusta mortgage. Collins says he got a federal loan for an Augusta house while listing Allagash as his primary home. Jackson says he listed Augusta on the mortgage because he spent more than half the year there, while state law defined Allagash as his permanent residence, which is why he took travel reimbursements, per the Press Herald on October 6, 2026, pressherald.com. Stored as Contested.
• Food and Medicine. Collins's campaign calls it a dark money group. Jackson's campaign said: "Only Susan Collins would call a nonprofit delivering food assistance a dark money group."
• Debate remark. At the October 15 debate he told Collins "Oh, shut up" after she linked a protester to him. The Maine GOP called it unacceptable. His campaign declined to comment.
• No FEC or ethics complaint against him was found.

Deal table

Levers and calendar

Calendar. The election is November 3, 2026. The post-general report is due December 3, 2026. The new Senate sits in January 2027.

What we could not verify

• FEC ID and treasurer.
• The name of the vendor owed about $1 million.
• Union PAC gifts beyond the Machinists and Painters.
• What Jackson did for the unions as a consultant.
• Bodies not read: jacksonformaine.com and bostonglobe.com and mainemorningstar.com and goiam.org and region9a.uaw.org and newscentermaine.com and spectrumlocalnews.com
• The BDN's October 21, 2026 report on an SLF ad about his family was not used, under the rule against storing non political family members.