Jackson says he’s campaigning for issues many senators don’t ‘give a s— about’

Democratic Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson on Sunday said that he’s campaigning on issues that many senators in Washington don’t “give a s— about.”

Jackson pitched his campaign in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Dana Bash. He emphasized that “at least in Maine, we don’t have anyone in everyday people’s corners, and that’s definitely what I’m going there for,” to advocate for improving health insurance and to ensure “a Medicare for All system,” as well as lowering fuel bills.

“That’s something that I don’t think kids should have to worry about,” he continued. “Those are things that I’m going to bring to the U.S. Senate because I don’t think there’s many people down there to give a s— about that stuff.”

Jackson described having “an intense desire to deliver for people I care about, and that’s what I have been doing for the last 20 years, deliver for people universal school meals, childcare, prescription drugs, trying to make healthcare better.”

“I have gone up against Big Pharma,” he added. “You know, I do. I fight for the people that need someone in their corner.”

Bash asked Jackson about his early support for single-payer healthcare during Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-Vt.) 2020 presidential campaign and how his “Medicare for All” plan would phase out private plans over a four-year period and go public. Jackson said his plan, like Sanders’s, would provide “great coverage” without “obscene co-pays and things like that.”

“Whenever we have tried to do this, is, like, everyone has to get into the plan,” Jackson said. “I mean, I think the controversy over this is that the health care industry, Big Pharma has made people feel like they’re not going to get as good a coverage, you will be getting something less than.”

The former Maine Senate president said that the U.S. “always [has] money to spend on aircraft carriers and things like that, but as soon as you start talking about healthcare, people start acting like there’s no way to do this.”

“I mean, every country that I know that’s industrial has been able to pay for healthcare,” he continued. “I’m pretty sure we can do it here too.”

Jackson and Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) squared off in their last debate on Thursday, where the Maine Democrat tried to pin Collins to President Trump and his agenda, while she stressed her resistance to blindly following her party or Trump. She acknowledged that an analysis found 56 instances where her votes changed an outcome but did not specify.

“The reality is that 100 percent of the time, when Donald Trump needs her, Susan Collins is going to be there,” Jackson said.

Decision Desk HQ, The Hill’s election partner, shows a narrow 54-percent probability that Jackson wins the Senate race, with a 46-percent probability for Collins.