6 write-in candidates file to challenge Susan Collins and Troy Jackson

By Michael Shepherd, Bangor Daily News Staff

Six people filed paperwork to run as write-in candidates against U.S. Sen. Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson in the November election, according to a list released by Secretary of State Shenna Bellows’ office Aug. 25.

That was the deadline to file as a write-in candidate under Maine law. Votes for those candidates will be counted in the November election. Anyone who writes in a name not on the state’s list will have that vote go uncounted.

This year’s number of candidates was a large one after Democrats’ tumultuous transition to Jackson from June primary winner Graham Platner, who abandoned his campaign last month following a rape allegation. A fringe group of supporters was calling on him to mount a write-in campaign, but he declined to do so by the deadline.

The six are Brent Andrews of York, who is unaffiliated with a party; Sigrid Ann Olson of Cape Elizabeth, a Democrat; Gina Oswald of Strong, an independent; Joseph Steinberger of Rockland, who registered under a “Faith in Humanity” banner; Mike Turcotte of Burnham, who is unenrolled; and Ashley Webb of Farmington, a Democrat.

The most notable names are Webb and Turcotte, though neither are likely to be major factors in the race, especially given Maine’s ranked-choice voting system that would allow anyone backing a write-in candidate to choose one of the major-party candidates in a later round.

Webb, a transgender activist, was one of 13 Democrats who sought their party’s nomination after Platner left the race. Jackson, a former Maine Senate president from Allagash, won the nod at the party’s July 25 convention in Bangor.

Turcotte explored a Senate campaign against Collins in 2014 before dropping the effort, citing weak public interest and a lack of campaign funds. In a statement sent to reporters Wednesday, Turcotte said Washington has stopped functioning while Mainers grapple with health care costs, housing, food prices, Social Security and immigration.

“I see what you see. I know things aren’t working,” Turcotte said. 

Collins, first elected in 1996 and now seeking a sixth term, and Jackson, will appear on the ballot Nov. 3.