High profile Democrats aren’t backing off their support for Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson following reports he fathered children with his cousin.
Former Chairwoman Donna Brazile was among the chorus of party voices throwing cold water on the claims about Jackson in a scandal-plagued Senate race that was already upended after former far-left candidate Graham Platner was forced to drop out earlier this summer following a series of controversies that culminated in a rape allegation.
And now, Jackson is facing even more turmoil with the most recent revelations of a 1988 police report accusing him of assault.
“Theres a lot of people who are doing a lot of gossip as news, and I don’t want to break news that might not be true â especially on something so personal â that’s not what I do,” Brazile told Fox News Digital when asked about the report Jackson had two children with his cousin and longtime partner Lana Pelletier.
Jackson became the Democrat nominee for Senate in Maine despite Platner winning the June 9 primary race. formally dropped out on July 10 â just in time for the Democratic Party to select a replacement for the November general election ballot.
But just weeks after being nominated to step into the race, Jackson came under fire when a shocking report hit the internet claiming his longtime partner, with whom he shares two children, is his cousin.
Brazile, a veteran Democrat and longtime operative for the party, told Fox News Digital she doesnt “know anything about Mr. Jackson,” when asked about the relationship with his cousin.
“I wish him the best of luck. I don’t know many⦠some of the nominees, but I wish them the best luck,” Brazile said, remaining agnostic to those particular claims.
“There are so many lies,” Brazile went on. “I don’t really want to comment on salacious gossip â innuendos.”
“All I know is that that’s going to be one of the most competitive races, and we’ll all be watching in the fall,” she concluded.
The bombshell report introduces another threat to the already tumultuous race where Democrats are trying to flip the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
FOX NEWS POLL: NEW MATCHUP, SAME RESULT: MAINE SENATE RACE STAYS LOCKED
The Maine Wire editor Steven Robinson reported that Jackson shares two children with his second cousin “by blood” and alleged high school sweetheart, Lana Pelletier. In posting the genealogical findings, the independent journalist claimed Pelletier’s father is a cousin of Jackson’s mother.
“I think it’s important to get the facts,” Brazile said about the report.
A longtime political strategist, Brazile served as interim chair of the Democratic National Committee in 2011 and again in 2016. She has remained an influential voice within Democratic politics through multiple midterm election cycles and has often weighed in on candidates and the party’s overall direction following major electoral setbacks.
Shortly after Brazile and other Democrats refused to abandon their support for Jackson in the Maine Senate race, a police report from 1988 resurfaced accusing Jackson of assaulting a man in an altercation over Pelletier.
The same report states that Pelletier told the police that Jackson “pushed her around.”
Jackson said in a statement obtained by Fox News Digital said, “I took responsibility for [the fight] then, and I take responsibility for it now.”
Pelletier, for her part, claimed the statement
