Report: Maine’s Platner Replacement Troy Jackson Reportedly Has Two ‘High School Aged’ Kids With His ‘Longtime Significant Other’ Second Cousin

Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo

Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson shares two kids with his longtime love — who also happens to be his second cousin, according to a report.

Steven Robinson, editor-in-chief of the conservative Maine Wire, claimed in a Thursday report that Jackson and his high school sweetheart, Lana M. Pelletier, are distantly related.

Jackson, 58, officially became the Democratic nominee to run against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) after scandal-scarred Graham Platner dropped out of the race amid sexual assault allegations. Platner vehemently denied the allegations.

Robinson reported genealogical that Jackson’s maternal grandmother and Pelletier’s paternal grandfather were siblings.

Citing genealogical records, Robinson said the relationship made Jackson’s mother, Colleen McBreairty, and Pelletier’s father, Louis Jr., first cousins.

Maine law does not prohibit such unions, The New York Post reported.

It’s not clear if Jackson and Pelletier are legally married, even though the candidate has referred to Pelletier throughout his career as his wife, Robinson noted.

“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 town with a population of approximately 240.

Per Maine law, it’s illegal for an individual to marry their parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, nieces, nephews, aunts, or uncles.

A recent “Pine Tree State Poll” by the University of New Hampshire’s States of Opinion project found Jackson leading Collins among independent voters.

The survey, conducted from July 15 to 20, polled 1,236 Maine residents online. The margin of error was +/- 2.8 percentage points. The sample included 1,178 likely voters in the upcoming general election in November.

Among likely voters, 49% said they would vote for Jackson, 46% for Collins, 2% for another candidate, and 3% undecided.

Jackson had a four-point edge with independents, getting 46% to Collins’ 42%, and 2% saying another candidate and 10% undecided.

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