Susan Collins Gives Hilarious Answer to Whether She'll Bring Up Troy Jackson's 'Personal Life' in Maine Senate Race
The Democrats, it seems, cannot nominate someone without a sordid past that’s not thoroughly ridiculous in the critical Maine Senate race — and Sen. Susan Collins is having a fun time pointing it out.
In an interview with Politico, Collins was asked whether her opponent’s “personal life” ought to “be relevant to the campaign?”
No, of course not, she said.
“I’m not going to bring up the fact that the mother of his two children is his second cousin,” she said.
Delivered like a perfect sketch comedy routine. Well played, senator.
So, for those of you who haven’t been following the Maine Democratic Senate saga, or have short memories, let me get you up to speed. Last year, the Democratic establishment decided that it was going to clear the field for Gov. Janet Mills in what supposed to be a one-foot putt in terms of a Senate-seat pick-up in a midterm cycle that favors Democrats.
There were several issues with this. The first is that, while Democratic leadership thought Mills was perfect, Mills herself didn’t exactly seem to want the seat.
Aside from the fact that, at 78 — 79 by the time the next Congress is seated — she would become the oldest elected freshman senator in the body’s history, she ran a campaign — when she eventually declared — that it would be a kindness to call half-hearted. The other thing is that, by the time she had declared, hobbyist oysterman and progressive activist Graham Platner had started to pick up steam.
Platner hadn’t actually been seriously vetted, and a litany of scandals and rumors came trailing in his wake. From a Nazi tattoo to toxic social media posts, there were more red flags thrown than at a NASCAR race held under sniper fire. Nobody seemed to really care. Mills withdrew because she saw the writing on the wall, and Platner won the primary easily.
Then the really disgusting allegations of partner abuse and sexual assault came out and Platner was forced to quit. The Maine Democratic Party gave the nomination the smoky backroom treatment and came up with Jackson, a former state Senate president.
Jackson already came with known personality issues, including a temper problem that was public knowledge when he was given the nomination. What wasn’t widely known, at least nationally, is the fact that his partner is his second cousin and that he’s fathered two children with her.
It was a fact that reinforced the idea that the Maine Democrats couldn’t actually get behind someone normal; while this isn’t necessarily illegal behavior, it’s not something that falls within the window of balanced, ordered human existence. But that seems to be a theme of Maine Democratic Senate aspirants this year.
Take Senate wannabe Ashley Webb, a man who “identifies” as a woman who thought he should be on the ballot because, you know, he writes songs and books:
Maine Senate candidate Ashley Webb says his songwriting capabilities qualifies him for the U.S. Senate.
Webb is seeking to replace Graham Platner as the Dem U.S. Senate nominee.
I’m going to have to hear these songs before I decide if he’s qualified. pic.twitter.com/o94kpk0oKe
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) July 17, 2026
Now that we have the TL;DR, let’s fast-forward to the Politico interview earlier this week with Collins — who has accumulated no rape allegations, hasn’t had children with blood relatives, doesn’t pretend to be a woman, and doesn’t think writing a song is a qualification for office. (I’m not saying she’s not a secret, undiscovered Joni Mitchell-level talent who’ll have her discography dumped onto Spotify once she leaves office, but she doesn’t need to run on it when she’s been in the Senate since 1997.)
“Should the circumstances of his personal life and the mother of his children be relevant to this campaign?” Politico’s Jonathan Martin asked. “Is that fair game, do you think?”
“Well, I’m not going to bring up the fact that the mother of his two children is his second cousin. I don’t know whether people know that or not,” she said, with a bit of a smile.
“I think you just mentioned it,” Martin responded, pretending that he wasn’t the one who brought up the topic in the first place. (Or maybe he meant the couple had children out of wedlock?)
“Well, in Aroostook County, you know it,” Collins said, smile still there.
🚨 LMAO…I gotta hand it to her, this was RUTHLESS from Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME)
Q: Should Troy Jackson (D)’s personal life be relevant to the campaign?
COLLINS: “Well, I’m not going to bring up the fact that the mother of his 2 children is his 2nd cousin.”
“I don’t know… pic.twitter.com/8dLbV5Lz7b
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) September 2, 2026
This was used by Chuck Todd, formerly of “Meet the Press,” as evidence that Collins is desperate, calling it “quite the tell, actually.”
I know this is what is expected now in politics but something tells me Collins would only be going down this road because she can’t find another way to win. It’s quite the tell actually. https://t.co/KgN6Th40V2
— Chuck Todd (@chucktodd) September 2, 2026
It’s “quite the tell” to the extent it shows Collins knows her state because she’s represented it in the Senate for almost 30 years. But aside from that, it’s 1) funny, and 2) a sign of how desperate the Democrats are.
Jackson may well win. Let’s face it: If Mills really wanted this, despite the fact she’d be the oldest elected freshman senator in the body’s history, she’d have it sewn up months ago. She didn’t, apparently because she’s not freaky or degenerate enough to qualify.
And even after the Senate nomination circus that’s been a national spectacle, Jackson still leads Collins in most polls, according to RealClearPolling.
Jackson is a radical in his own right, just like Platner. His baggage doesn’t include rape allegations, which is why he’s here. But as metaphorical baggage goes, he’s still a guy arguing with the United check-in counter at Boston Logan regarding how much of a surcharge he’ll have to pay. The only question is whether he’ll be paying a few hundred for the extra baggage, or the tens of thousands Platner would have had to pay.
But no, Collins won’t bring all that baggage up. I just thought we all knew Jackson fathered kids with his second cousin, whom he isn’t married to. I repeat myself, because nothing else will do: Well played, Sen. Collins.
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