Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson is in a long-term relationship with his second cousin, Lana Pelletier, with whom he shares two adult sons, according to a report from The Maine Wire. Jackson, 58, and Pelletier, his high school sweetheart, share the same great-grandparents. The relationship, while legal under Maine law, has surfaced as Jackson seeks to challenge incumbent GOP Sen. Susan Collins.
The report notes that such relationships are not uncommon in the rural North Maine Woods region, near the Canadian border. Jackson, a former president of the Maine State Senate and onetime logger, has referred to Pelletier as his wife in the past, but locals indicate the couple has never been legally married.
Jackson was formally nominated by the Democratic party on July 25 to run against Collins. This nomination followed the withdrawal of another candidate, Graham Platner, from the race amid allegations of rape by an ex-girlfriend.
Campaign representatives for Jackson, the Maine Democratic Party, and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.