'Platner Vibes': Major Scandal Hits New Maine Dem Senate Nominee, and It All Sounds So Familiar
Since disgraced Democrat Graham Platner exited under immense pressure
from party leaders who were terrified he was going to lose, the Maine
Senate race has mostly dropped out of the national news cycle, with one
of the few "interesting" things being the process the state party used
to pick its replacement nominee, Platner-backed Troy Jackson, a couple of weeks later.
The other interesting - and far more cringey - thing that's been
revealed is that Jackson, a former state senate president who has been endorsed
by the Maine DSA, is "romantically partnered up with his second cousin
and the two have produced offspring," as RedState previously reported.
My colleague Teri Christoph observed at the time that, "shacking up and procreating with your cousin isn't illegal in Maine, but, let's be honest, it's a little weird in this day and age. But, hey, he found a unique way to out-Platner Platner."
As it turns out, that was truer than anyone realized, for reasons we will soon explain.
On
Wednesday night, news broke about a violent altercation that Jackson
reportedly had in his younger years with another man that landed Jackson
in trouble with the law. What was especially troubling, however, was
that police records at the time indicate that Jackson's romantic partner
- whom he is still with - alleged he "pushed her around" during the incident:
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.
According to the Bangor Daily News, the police report and
witness/victim statement from the time paint a picture of a man
(Jackson) who seemed to be in the midst of a jealous rage, visiting a
home in the early hours of the morning, allegedly kicking the door down,
pushing past a man who tried to restrain him, grabbing another man by
the throat, and punching him. Here's what allegedly happened next:
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 story
also noted that "Jackson had been involved in other 'incidents' in Fort
Kent but had never been previously charged, the officer wrote in his
report."
Can you say "Platner vibes"? Yeah.
Wow
- newly surfaced reports detail an incident in which Maine Democrat
Senate Candidate Troy Jackson physically attacked his partner (also his
cousin who he has 2 children with) and she was so scared she told police
she planned to file “cease harassment papers.”
For anyone thinking "well, that was probably just him being young and
hot-headed," let's also not forget the far more recent reports that Jackson's temper while in the state senate was such a concern that the issue was elevated to the governor's office at one point, as detailed by The Washington Post:
Troy
Jackson, a powerful Maine legislator now running for Senate, once
angrily threw a water bottle in a meeting after he couldn’t persuade a
lawmaker to vote his way.
He yelled at another lawmaker, prompting
her to post on social media that straight men were “too emotional” to
be in politics. And he cursed and shouted in a meeting with the speaker
of Maine’s state House, until she kicked him out of her office.
During
the six years Jackson presided over Maine’s Senate, until he left
office in 2024, his temper was a feature of his leadership, and one that
Democratic lawmakers discussed among themselves as a problem and even
raised with the governor.
This
follows reports that he once got so angry in a legislative meeting that
he threw a water bottle and hit a female legislator.
Can Maine Democrats find a candidate who DOESN’T have a history of violently abusing women? https://t.co/2098T2wP2g
And
just like with the myriad Platner scandals, one wonders what's going to
drop next for Jackson? It will be interesting - and quite comical - to
see what his newfound apologists supporters, including
Democrat Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), have to say about all of this, and the
excuses they are likely to come up with.
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