Augusta, Maine - Reproductive Freedom for All (RFA), one of the country's oldest pro-choice groups, endorsed Democrat Troy Jackson to represent the state of Maine in the US Senate.
"Flipping the Maine Senate race is a critical path to winning a Senate majority, and we do not restore a federal right to abortion without flipping the Senate majority," said RFA President Mini Timmaraju in a statement cited by the Guardian.
Jackson is running against incumbent GOP Senator Susan Collins, who voted in 2018 to confirm Justice Brett Kavanaugh – despite numerous sexual assault allegations – to the Supreme Court.
Despite assurances by Collins that it wouldn't happen, Kavanaugh went on to vote for the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The 2026 Midterm elections will be the first time Collins is on the ballot since Roe v. Wade was overturned, due to the Senate's six-year term limits.
Jackson has a complicated history with the topic of reproductive rights, for years holding anti-abortion views. He admitted in July that he was "wrong" to hold those opinions.
He "in many ways reflects the reality of a majority of independents and Republicans in this country who now support abortion rights, but might personally have felt conflicted in the past," Timmaraju said.
"Having someone like Troy in the Senate who can talk to his Republican colleagues and talk to some of those moderate Democratic colleagues… is actually going to be a huge value add for our movement."
Planned Parenthood has also thrown their weight against Susan Collins' campaign, investing more than $600,000 to get her thrown out.
"I'm running for Senate to restore and expand the federal right to abortion and make damn sure politicians never again get to take this freedom away from Mainers," Jackson wrote in a post to X, thanking RFA for their endorsement.