Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson is in a long-term relationship with his high school sweetheart — who is also his second cousin, according to a new report.
Jackson, 58, and Lana Pelletier share two adult sons and the same great-grandparents, according to Thursday’s report published by The Maine Wire, which notes that such relationships are both legal under state law and not uncommon in the rural North Maine Woods region, near the Canadian border.
While Jackson, a onetime logger and the former president of the Maine State Senate, has described Pelletier as his wife in the past, locals tell independent reporter Steve Robinson the couple has never been legally married.
Jackson was formally nominated at a special party convention July 25 to challenge incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins following the withdrawal of Graham Platner from the race following allegations of rape by an ex-girlfriend.
Requests for comment from the Jackson campaign, the Maine Democratic Party and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee were not immediately returned.
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