Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson has two children with his second cousin
Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson shares two children with his longtime partner, Lana M. Pelletier, who is also his second cousin, according to a report examining their family genealogy.
Troy Jackson is related to his partner
Steven Robinson, editor-in-chief of the conservative Maine Wire, reported that Jackson, 58, and Pelletier, his high school sweetheart, are distantly related. Robinson cited genealogical records showing Jackson’s maternal grandmother and Pelletier’s paternal grandfather were siblings. That would make Jackson’s mother and Pelletier’s father first cousins.
Maine law does not prohibit marriages between second cousins, according to the New York Post. It remains unclear whether Jackson and Pelletier are legally married, though Jackson has referred to Pelletier as his wife throughout his political career, Robinson reported.
“The pair has been together for Jackson’s entire political career, stretching from his early days as a pro-gun, pro-life, conservative working-class rabble-rouser in the late 1990s and early 2000s through his rise to become a pro-gun-control, pro-late-term-abortion socialist state Senate president,” Robinson wrote.
Pelletier is from Allagash, a Maine town with a population of about 240.
State law prohibits people from marrying parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, aunts or uncles.
Troy Jackson’s battle for Maine
Jackson recently became the Democratic nominee, challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins after Graham Platner dropped out of the race amid sexual assault allegations, which Platner vehemently denied.
Jackson enters the general election with a narrow polling advantage. A University of New Hampshire States of Opinion “Pine Tree State Poll” — conducted online July 15 to 20 among 1,236 Maine residents — found Jackson ahead of Collins among likely voters, 49 percent to 46 percent. Two percent backed another candidate, and 3 percent were undecided. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 2.8 percentage points and included 1,178 likely November voters.
The polling results also showed Jackson performing slightly better among independents than among the likely-voter sample overall against the Republican incumbent senator. Among independents, Jackson led Collins 46 percent to 42 percent, with 2 percent supporting another candidate and 10 percent undecided.