Former State Senate President Troy Jackson has a clear path to the Democratic Senate nomination after both Nirav Shah and Shenna Bellows dropped out Sunday.
Jackson has a big lead in the delegate selection process that occurred over the weekend in all 16 Maine counties.
The announcements from Shaw and Bellows Sunday that they’re out of the race Sunday gives Jackson heavy momentum heading into next Saturday’s nominating convention.
The candidate who wins the nomination will replace Graham Platner in the U.S. Senate race, who dropped out after accusation of sexual assault.
Both Shaw and Bellows stressed the need to defeat incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins in their announcements Sunday, with Shaw endorsing Jackson in his statement.
“To Maine Democrats: Susan Collins will not be defeated without a united Democratic Party,” said Shaw. “That’s why I am suspending my campaign for the United States Senate today and endorsing Troy Jackson. Susan Collins, Donald Trump, and Senate Republicans are banking on disunity and frustration from Maine Democrats to try and win this seat, and we are not going to give them that.”
“The most important thing we can do in this moment is unite to defeat Susan Collins,” said Bellows. “With that in mind, I’m leaving the senate race.”
The Democratic nomination convention takes place next Saturday in Bangor, where a Senate nominee will be named.
Two Democratic Senate debates have been scheduled this week on WMTW-TV and CNN. It’s not known whether the exit from the race by Shaw and Bellows will impact those debates. Former congressional staffer Jordan Wood is the highest profile candidate remaining in the race after Jackson. Twelve candidates were in the race going into this weekend’s delegate meetings.
