Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson is confronting a nearly four-decade-old police report detailing an altercation in which he punched a man and his longtime partner allegedly told an officer Jackson "pushed her around." Jackson admits to the assault on the man but strongly denies any violence against his partner, Lana Pelletier.
Jackson, 58, said he took responsibility for the 1988 fight when he was 19 years old. "I have never been violent with my partner Lana, or any other woman," he said. "This happened nearly four decades ago, and I assure Mainers this incident in no way reflects the man I am today or the life I've led in the years since."
Pelletier, who has been in a relationship with Jackson for roughly 40 years, also denied the police account. She said she has no memory of telling police Jackson pushed her and denied that he did so.
The Fort Kent Police Department report, obtained by the Bangor Daily News, details the incident from March 12, 1988. It includes a handwritten witness statement describing Jackson's actions at a Fort Kent home just before 2 a.m.
According to the report and the victim's statement, Jackson kicked in a door after being told to leave. He then confronted a man, grabbed him by the throat and swung at him, striking his glasses and cutting his face. Jackson then told the man to "stay away from Lana Pelletier or else."
The 1988 case resulted in a misdemeanor charge against Jackson for the assault on the man, which was resolved by a fine. A background check run by the Bangor Daily News found no other criminal record for Jackson, and the underlying court file for the 1988 incident has since been destroyed under the judicial system's retention schedule.
The revelation arrives less than three weeks after Jackson secured the Democratic nomination in a swift process to replace Graham Platner on the ballot. Platner's campaign collapsed following an allegation from an ex-girlfriend that he raped her in 2021.
Jackson, a former Maine Senate president from Allagash, is now challenging five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins in a race considered key to determining which party controls the U.S. Senate.
