Democratic senators are closing ranks around Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson, even as revelations about his marriage to his second cousin raise serious ethical and cultural questions that many voters will find impossible to ignore.
According to the Gateway Pundit, Jackson was vaulted into the race after Democrats pushed former Senate nominee Graham Platner out amid allegations of sexual assault and abuse, only to find themselves defending a candidate whose personal life is now under intense scrutiny. The controversy erupted after Maine Wire editor-in-chief Steve Robinson disclosed that Jacksons wife, Lana M. Pelletier, is not merely a distant relation but his second cousin, and that the couple has two children together.
Robinson detailed the family connection in stark terms, writing, Jackson, a 26-year politician and lobbyist, has made a career of bragging that hes a is a fifth-generation logger, but you dont have to go far back the generational line to find where it crosses paths with the ancestors of his significant other Lana M. Pelletier, and further explaining, Jackson and Pelletier share the same great-grandparents: Thomas Pelletier and Edith Thibodeau. Thomas and Ediths daughter Albertine was Troys grandmother; their son Louis Sr. was Lanas grandfather. That makes Troy and Lana second cousins on the Pelletier line. Despite these specifics, leading Democrats in the Senate appeared either uninformed or unwilling to engage when questioned about the matter over the weekend.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island brushed off the issue, saying, I havent seen that, while Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia echoed, I havent seen it, even as he affirmed his support for Democratic nominees in both Michigan and Maine. From Maine itself, Senator Angus King, who might be expected to know the political landscape in his own state, responded, I have no idea what youre talking about. Im not going to comment on it.
Marylands Chris Van Hollen likewise claimed ignorance, stating, I havent heard of these reports. Troy Jackson is somebody who is obviously in this fight for working people. His fellow Maryland Democrat, Senator Angela Alsobrooks, took the same line, saying, I dont know anything about that, but what I do know is that we have got to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.
Alsobrooks went even further, making clear that party loyalty overrides any personal or moral concerns, declaring, If you ask me who Im supporting, Im supporting whoever the nominee in every single state, the Democratic nominee, because we are going to have to take back the House and take back the Senate as well. That posture underscores a familiar pattern on the Left: when faced with troubling behavior inside their own ranks, the priority is power first, accountability laterif ever.
Jackson himself has not denied the familial relationship, instead allowing his campaign to dismiss the revelations as partisan mudslinging. Labeling the scrutiny Personal attacks on Troys family, his team framed the issue as a distraction, as though marrying a blood relative were a trivial matter unworthy of public concern.
In a statement to Fox News, the Jackson campaign lashed out at Senator Susan Collins and President Trump, asserting, Susan Collins will do anything to distract from the fact that she votes with Trump 96% of the time and has sold out working people in Maine. Personal attacks on Troys family are shameful and desperate. That response neatly sidesteps the core question: whether voters should be expected to overlook a candidates decision to marry his second cousin while Democrats, who routinely posture as moral arbiters, pretend not to notice.
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