With the collapse of Graham Plattner’s Senate campaign, maine Democratic Party There is little time to choose a new candidate. Jordan Wood argues that the party cannot move forward without first facing what went wrong, and that the shooting death of a Colombian man by ICE agents this week further raised the stakes in the race.
In an interview with defenderMr. Wood called for abolishing and replacing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and defended his earlier warnings against Mr. Platner, arguing that Democrats must appoint someone who can refute them. republican party One of Sen. Susan Collins’ most enduring political advantages is her reputation as a moderate. LGBTQ+ right.
Mr. Wood also targeted one of his main rivals, former Maine Senate President Troy Jackson, citing Mr. Jackson’s past votes against him. marriage equality This could be a weapon for Collins in the general election.
The interview came as the Maine Democratic Party prepares for its July 25 convention to replace Mr. Platner, who resigned after being accused of sexual assault by his ex-partner. Mr. Platner denies the charges. Mr. Wood started as a Senate candidate, then switched to the open 2nd Congressional District race, but returned to the race after Mr. Platner resigned.
related: Gay miner Jordan Wood announces he will run to replace Graham Platner in Senate race
Fatal shooting changes race
The race was rocked again on Monday when ICE agents shot and killed 26-year-old Colombian man Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero during an immigration check in Biddeford.
Federal authorities confirmed that Duran Guerrero was not the person investigators were trying to arrest. The Department of Homeland Security said the man tried to flee in a car when officers felt threatened and opened fire. Witnesses and immigration advocates dispute some of the government’s explanations.
No body camera footage of the shooting exists because the agents involved were not wearing body cameras.
The killing sparked protests in southern Maine, and ICE briefly suspended most immigration-related vehicle stops across the country. The Trump administration reversed that decision on Wednesday. Wood said the shootings are not an anomaly but the result of a government agency operating under a president that rewards force and obstructs accountability.
“I was very emotional when I heard the news yesterday,” Wood said. defender on tuesday. “We’ve endured ICE terrorizing our streets for over a year, so it didn’t come as a shock.”
he pointed to the president donald trump’s They say President Trump sent a broad message to federal officials, announcing pardons for people convicted in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. “He sent me a message saying, ‘If you’re willing to do it, I’ll take care of you,'” Wood said. “And when these situations happen, where ICE agents shoot innocent people and drag them out of their cars, it’s because they don’t believe they will be held accountable.”
Wood said ICE reform alone is not enough.
“I believe this agency, ICE, needs to be abolished and replaced with a new law enforcement agency,” he said. “ICE has lost the trust of the people it is supposed to serve and protect. That means it needs to rebuild something new in a new way. And ICE has to go.”
related: Gay man in Maine seeking Susan Collins’ Senate seat says he doesn’t support Graham Platner’s redemption story
Wood reiterates what he warned months ago
The interview was also Wood’s most detailed public reflection on Platner since the former candidate’s campaign collapsed.
when defender Wood met with Wood last October after the magazine reported on Platner’s history of homophobic Reddit posts and questioned whether Platner had shown true remorse.
This week, he returned to that discussion. “I think LGBTQ people have a special understanding of grace and forgiveness,” Wood said of recent events. pride month A sermon he gave at his father’s church. “But we know what that change looks like.”
Wood said he would like to believe that Platner has changed, but he thought Platner had not fully considered the harm caused by his repeated use of anti-LGBTQ+ slurs.
“They made me the bad guy and I didn’t believe in grace and forgiveness,” Wood said. “I absolutely believe that. I believe it with all my heart. But I’m not going to lie.”
Despite these concerns, Wood endorsed Plattner after becoming the Democratic nominee, saying the urgency of defeating Collins outweighed his reservations.
“I still said I would support Mr. Graham if he was the candidate because of what’s at stake,” he said.
related:Who is Jonathan Ross? The ICE agent who killed Renee Goode also broke the window of the suspect’s car.
Parties facing a crisis of trust
Wood said Platner’s ouster has created a “crisis of confidence” in the Maine Democratic Party.
“When someone lies to you, you don’t know what else they’re lying about,” Wood says. “We need to end this in a way that makes primary voters feel like they have confidence in who is coming out of this.”
He likened the moment to the Democratic Party’s panic after President Joe Biden withdrew from the 2024 presidential race, arguing that breach of trust cannot be repaired simply by parties declaring the issue over.
Wood said he spent about $30,000 doing an independent investigation into his background before starting his campaign. He argued that the consultants who hired Mr. Platner failed to prepare him for the scrutiny that accompanies a nationally important Senate election.
“This is one of the most important national races in this country,” Wood said. “Your deepest, darkest secrets, the worst words you’ve said online, they’re going to find it.”
He said the consultants “owe an apology to all of us” and to Mr. Platner and his family for not being upfront about what the race was asking for.
related: Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner admits to using ‘indefensible’ anti-gay slur in unearthed Reddit post
sustaining a movement while rejecting a candidate
Wood’s criticism of Platner falls short of much of the agenda that fueled his rise. “I separate Graham and the movement from the people,” Wood said.
He cited Medicare for All, universal health care, opposition to corporate political influence and conditions for aid to Israel as priorities the two sides shared before Platner entered the race. He also said he would reject “money from corporate PACs, lobbyists and AIPAC.”
He added: “I feel like voters will trust me when I say I’m carrying on that platform.”
He also rejected the idea that Platner’s appeal lies primarily in his biography or style.
What energized voters, Wood argued, was the belief that defeating Collins would require a candidate willing to speak out about the health care system, the economy and a political system they no longer trust.
related: Graham Platner welcomes attacks from ‘fascists and bigots’ on support for transgender rights
Collins’ temperance and its limits
Wood said LGBTQ+ rights could be a decisive test in the general election because Collins has spent years cultivating a track record that distances him from many in the Republican Party.
Mr. Collins supported repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and later supported the federal government. marriage equality law. Wood said she does not personally consider herself anti-gay.
“I don’t think she’s homophobic,” he said. “She has a track record to back up.”
But he argued that Democrats cannot allow Collins to use those votes as evidence that she remains a meaningful check on the party. So he turned to Jackson. Wood noted that Jackson voted against marriage equality in the Maine state legislature before later becoming a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights.
“We know that Troy is better than Susan on this issue,” Wood said. “I know Troy is a better champion than Susan, but she will use that as a weapon against him.”
Mr. Jackson’s campaign rejected that argument, noting that the marriage equality vote took place 17 years ago and pointing to his subsequent legislative history.
“Mr. Troy has made it clear that his vote 17 years ago was wrong,” the campaign said in a statement. defender. “He has listened, learned, and built a record that reflects that growth over the nearly two decades since. As President of the Senate, he won a 100% Equality Maine approval rating and fought to strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ Maine voters. Susan Collins has spent years enabling the Republican Party to attack LGBTQ+ Americans across the country. Troy will always fight to protect the freedom, dignity, and equal rights of all Maine voters.”
The campaign also pointed to Mr. Jackson’s leadership in passing a ban on conversion therapy for minors in Maine in 2019, and argued that voters should judge Mr. Jackson based on nearly two decades of advocacy, not on a single vote cast before public opinion on marriage equality changed significantly.
Source: Advocate.com – www.advocate.com
