Great Turnout for Troy Jackson's Town Hall

Many thanks to Maine Senator Troy Jackson for putting more miles on his 300,000-mile-van and traveling to East Machias to speak to voters. We had a terrific turnout from across Washington County and a lot of folks came ready with tough questions.

Sen. Jackson spoke a bit first and shared his personal story. Showing a surprising vulnerability, he talked about being the child of young parents, living through tough financial times, and attending his first strike with his dad. That experience not only frightened him but became the motivating factor for his life. He saw in real time at twelve years old that the money and power of government changed lives: it could make people's lives better or it could destroy them. He also shared his political journey from his own activism as one of fifteen loggers who drove their trucks to block the border and prevent Canadian workers from crossing and taking American jobs to his first (failed) campaign - as a Republican candidate. He shared a bit about how "a nobody" like him decided to take the financial risk to get elected to the State House  in 2002 - as an Independent this time - and begin fighting for sensible legislation and the need for rational, reasonable compromise. This "nobody" won every race after that, ultimately serving in the State House and State Senate, as Senator Minority and Majority Leader and finally President of the Maine Senate. After being termed-out, he formed an exploratory committee to consider a run for Governor. We await his formal announcement as I type this...

Sen. Jackson then stood and took questions for over two-and-a-half hours, also remaining a bit after to have more one-on-one conversations. Questions ranged from how to insure one voter's grandkids would be able to follow in the family fishing tradition to how to salvage Maine's failing education and healthcare systems to how fighting for big change in our state could influence and empower other states to join the fight.

He spoke emphatically about his support for unions, for Tribal Sovereignty, and the rule of law, but always from the perspective of listening to the voters, talking with folks who knew more about the nuances of a subject, and his own willingness to hammering out legislation that did the best it could for the people of Maine.

We ask every candidate who has constituents in Washington County to make themselves available for more in-person events like this. Voters are strongly influenced by people who SHOW UP to speak with us face-to-face.

And the Washington County Democratic Committee has proven that we will show up for the candidates who show up for us.