On July 31, CBS13 reported that the Maine secretary of state's office would not make a determination in response to a July 24 letter from state Rep. James White (R) questioning whether Troy Jackson, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, was eligible to run under the state’s sore loser law. Deputy Secretary of State Kate O'Brien said that it was not an issue for the secretary of state's office to resolve.
Jackson, a former state senator, won the Democratic nominating convention on July 25 to replace Graham Platner (D) as the party's nominee to face U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R) in the U.S. Senate general election. This is the first time since 1918 that a U.S. Senate nominee has been replaced in Maine.
White argued that Jackson should be disqualified as the nominee because he ran in the Democratic primary for governor earlier this year. State statute says a candidate may not file "whether by primary election or nomination petition, as a candidate for more than one federal, state or county office at any election."
