A recent campaign commercial backed by Republicans relies on misleading statements to target the relatives of Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson.
Put together by the Senate Leadership Fund PAC, the spot accuses Jackson of killing an environmental bill in the state Senate to financially benefit his son, who works as a lobbyist. However, the commercial heavily inflates the influence both father and son actually had on the legislation’s failure.
“One polluter wanted to stop a bill cracking down on emissions,” a narrator states in the ad. “They paid Jackson’s son and, with Jackson in charge, the bill went up in smoke.”
The legislation in question, LD 1707, was brought forward in 2019 during Jackson’s tenure as leader of the Maine state Senate. Its goal was to mandate independent verification for environmental permits instead of permitting companies to self-audit.
While a lobbying firm that hired Jackson’s son, Chace, opposed the measure, Chace served strictly as an associate under the lead lobbyist managing the account.
Ultimately, the legislature’s Environment and Natural Resources Committee—comprising both parties—voted unanimously against advancing the bill. Jackson was not on the committee, and records show no evidence that he pressured lawmakers to secure that result.
According to Maine’s legislative guidelines, any measure unanimously rejected at the committee level needs a two-thirds supermajority in both the House and Senate to be brought back up. LD 1707 fell short of that threshold and was never put to a full floor vote.
Additionally, the commercial asserts that Chace “raked in almost $200,000 from special interests.” Yet, that total reflects the total revenue earned by the firm, not Chace’s personal earnings—a detail acknowledged by the Washington Beacon report the ad references.
“Chace Jackson did not struggle to land clients, according to the Maine Ethics Commission’s lobbyist disclosure database, which only goes back to 2024,” the report explains. “During that year, his firm received $182,500 in lobbying compensation from nine of Jackson’s clients.”
Furthermore, an investigative review conducted in 2024 by the Bangor Daily News concluded that Jackson’s voting record showed no signs of being influenced by his son’s lobbying activities.
Jackson is currently running against incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins. An August survey by Beacon Research indicates Jackson holding a narrow 2-point advantage over Collins.