Unorganized Territory

Human, father, friend. Former award-winning public radio journalist. Founder of Unorganized Territory and Frost Heaves on Substack. Maine is my forever home.

[Sen. Susan Collins @SenatorCollins]

I have carefully reviewed Todd Blanche’s qualifications to be Attorney General. This includes his record and responses to questions from Senators at the Department of Justice Appropriations hearing, his confirmation hearing, and in the weeks that followed.

While I believe Mr. Blanche is a capable lawyer, the Department of Justice has become increasingly political.

Mr. Blanche has taken several actions that have further eroded the Department’s independence, and that is the basis for my vote to oppose his confirmation:

Mr. Blanche approved an order to shield the President, his sons, and the family business from IRS audits, protections unavailable to other American taxpayers.

He approved the creation of a $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund.

He promised an anti-abortion organization that he would seek to prohibit the mailing of abortion medication to women nationwide.

Under his leadership, the Department attempted to indict Senators Mark Kelly and Elissa Slotkin over their ill-advised, but constitutionally protected, videos encouraging resistance to unlawful orders.

More than 1,200 former Department of Justice employees have opposed his nomination, arguing that he has undermined the institution.

For these reasons, I will vote against this nomination.

[Unorganized Territory @radiojayjay]

https://t.co/A1L5lY36MU

[Unorganized Territory @radiojayjay]

The Aroostook County Cage Match https://t.co/zyFFzC90YU

Sara Gideon was not a candidate who lit the Democratic base on fire. Graham Platner was doing that in 2026. But while Platner’s charisma was powerful, I don’t believe he would have assembled such a huge following so quickly if he was selling steak knives, bibles or wind chimes. He gave voice to a rage and discontent about how far the country has fallen under Donald Trump, his unhinged second administration and a system of politics and governance controlled and practiced by the wealthy elite in both parties.

Troy Jackson has been giving voice to these unpleasant truths for decades.

Yes, he doesn’t have Platner’s charisma.

And guess what? It’s not going to matter.

What Jackson lacks in cigarette-tinged, gravelly, central casting eloquence he makes up for with life experiences that are more authentically Maine than his predecessor in the race, and on equal footing with the other politician from the County he faces in November.

[CNN @CNN]

Facing death from stage four pancreatic cancer, former Senator Ben Sasse shares with CNN’s Jake Tapper what he believes American politics needs for the Republic to survive. Watch the rest of his emotional interview on CNN’s The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper: Ben Sasse is Going Home: Lessons on Life and Death, Sunday, July 26 at 8pm ET, and available on CNN All Access on Monday, July 27.

[Unorganized Territory @radiojayjay]

More from Jackson’s speech accepting Democratic nomination:

“Concern is not courage. What she (Collins) says in Maine does not erase what she does down in Washington.”

[Unorganized Territory @radiojayjay]

“This economy is about taking pieces of our lives away from us.”

Troy Jackson, accepting the Democratic nomination for U.S.Senate in Bangor, July 25, 2026.

[Jordan Wood @JordanWood]

In June, over 70% of Maine Democrats voted for a fighter. That campaign ended. The demand did not. Tomorrow, delegates will carry it forward by nominating my friend, Troy Jackson.

Read my op-ed in today’s Press Herald: https://t.co/NM9hYNPNPT

[Ronald Brownstein @RonBrownstein]

@TroyJackson207 is at 84% w/Trump disapprovers in UNH poll. That's below every other D Senate candidate in Trump 1, but well > Gideon in 2020. Collins is maxed out on Trump approvers-she's at 99%-but 8% of disapprovers are still DK or someone else. He's got easier room to grow

[Alex Seitz-Wald @aseitzwald]

Maine Beer Co. Founder Dan Kleban out, endorsing Troy Jackson

[Benjamin Kail @BenKail]

Troy Jackson wins 77 of the 84 delegates in York County, with his slate now claiming 367 of the 403 slots awarded so far. He now has more than enough support to win at Saturday’s convention in Bangor. https://t.co/1Li9iIz7mS

[Bayliss Wagner @baylisswagner]

ICYMI after midnight last night: Maine Democrats Take Step Toward New Senate Pick, With Jolt of Momentum for Jackson https://t.co/jGIwcMQquV

w/ @TimBalk

[Juliette Kayyem @juliettekayyem]

The ICE officer who killed a man in Maine last week had a well known history of mental instability and physical abuse. He should have never been hired. More in my newsletter on why these killings were so predictable and what enforcement should look like:
https://t.co/h4Q9EiJlzq

[Unorganized Territory @radiojayjay]

Classy Shenna.

[Shenna Bellows @shennabellows]

The most important thing we can do in this moment is unite to defeat Susan Collins. With that in mind, I’m leaving the senate race. Statement below.

[Ronald Brownstein @RonBrownstein]

The logical alternative to Platner for Democrats from the start https://t.co/QOYC45wI0Y

[Unorganized Territory @radiojayjay]

https://t.co/za1IrnpuwL
Takeaways from the first post-Platner debate.

[Unorganized Territory @radiojayjay]

What Now?
https://t.co/3nd09T7nMO

With Platner’s downfall still fresh, the unfolding process to replace him is creating a perfect storm of deja vu and PTSD for Democrats in Maine, Washington D.C. and beyond.