With Platner's departure, will a woman be chosen as D Senate candidate to run against Susan Collins?
64% of users predicted NO — the community got this one right. 33 predictions cast.
Maine Democrats selected former state Senate President Troy Jackson, not a woman, as their nominee to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins in November. Roughly 566 delegates gathered at a nominating convention in Bangor on July 25 and picked Jackson in a near-unanimous vote.
The seat opened after Graham Platner withdrew from the race earlier in July following a rape allegation. Maine election law required a replacement nominee to be chosen within two weeks of a withdrawal, forcing an accelerated selection process. About a dozen Democrats entered contention after Platner's exit, but the field narrowed sharply once county-level meetings selected convention delegates; Jackson's supporters won most of those slots, prompting his strongest rivals to drop out before the convention.
Jackson, a longtime state legislator aligned with Sen. Bernie Sanders and a veteran of his 2016 presidential campaign, now heads into a roughly 100-day sprint against Collins in one of the cycle's most closely watched Senate races.
The community correctly anticipated this outcome: only 36% of predictors expected a woman to be chosen, matching the eventual result.