Democrat Rocked by New Scandal in Key Senate Race

Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson gave Republicans a new line of attack in Maine after calling longtime GOP Sen. Susan Collins “stupid,” then trying to walk the remark back.

Jackson made the comments Monday at a reproductive-rights event in Bath with Planned Parenthood Maine Action Fund President and CEO Nicole Clegg. He was attacking Collins over her 2018 vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a vote he has tied to the later overturning of Roe v. Wade.

“She thinks we are stupid. That is what it comes down to,” Jackson told the crowd. He then went further. “It is not us that are stupid, it’s her,” he said.

Before the event ended, he tried to narrow the comment. “I should clarify that Sen. Collins would be stupid if she did not think we could see what’s going on,” Jackson said, according to NEWS CENTER Maine. “Not that she is stupid.”

The clarification came after he had already used the word “stupid” about Collins. The exchange landed as he prepares to face her on a debate stage in the closing weeks of a competitive Senate race.

Jackson has made abortion a central argument, hammering Collins for supporting Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Kavanaugh later joined the majority in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the 2022 ruling that overturned Roe and returned abortion policy to the states.

Collins has criticized the Dobbs ruling and describes herself as supportive of abortion rights. She has also supported federal legislation aimed at restoring nationwide abortion protections. Jackson argues that her stated position does not erase her votes for conservative Supreme Court nominees.

His own record has drawn scrutiny. Earlier in his career, Jackson supported more restrictive abortion policies and legislation providing legal protections for unborn children. He has since said his views changed after speaking with women, physicians, and abortion-rights advocates, and that some of his previous positions were wrong.

Monday’s Planned Parenthood event was meant to reinforce his current stance and keep Collins’ judicial record in view. His comments about Collins became part of the story instead.

Collins is seeking another term in a state that has leaned Democratic in presidential races. Jackson is trying to give Democrats a pickup that could matter for control of the Senate. Recent polling shows a competitive contest, with surveys differing on who is ahead. The race has centered on abortion, the economy, health care, taxes, Trump, and Senate control.