Shenna Bellows drops out of Maine’s Senate race as Troy Jackson builds Democratic support

SANFORD, Maine — Former state Senate President Troy Jackson emerged from a whirlwind weekend of voting as Maine Democrats’ likely pick to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins. By Sunday night, all of Jackson’s major opponents had dropped out of the race, including Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, physician Nirav Shah and former congressional staffer Jordan Wood, who reversed course after initially committing to remain in the race. Bellows made her announcement Sunday morning, while Shah exited the race Sunday evening after Democrats across the state selected delegates to next week’s state nominating convention. Jackson quickly established a seemingly insurmountable advantage in delegates as his supporters swept counties throughout the state. Jackson’s supporters won 481 of the 500 convention seats up for grabs this weekend, according to his campaign.