PORTLAND, Maine — Maine’s incoming U.S. Senator Troy Jackson reaffirmed Friday that he will not vote for New York Senator Chuck Schumer to serve as Senate Majority Leader when Democrats take control of the chamber in January.
Jackson, who won the seat held for nearly three decades by Republican Senator Susan Collins, reiterated his position following questions about leadership post-election.
“I’ve already said, I told Senator Schumer I’m going to support somebody else, so that’s no different now,” Jackson said.
Jackson is set to take the oath of office in January. His arrival in Washington marks the end of Collins’ 30-year tenure in the U.S. Senate—leaving her just four months short of the all-time Maine record set by William Frye over a century ago.
Jackson’s stance drew a swift reaction from national Republicans. In a statement released Friday, the Republican National Committee weighed in on the friction within the incoming Democratic majority.
“As Troy Jackson and the most radical class of freshman Senators this country has ever seen prepare to take office, Chuck Schumer is in for a reckoning,” the RNC statement read. “It won’t be long before Democrats are eating their own as the civil war that dominated primary season starts playing out on the Senate floor.”
