Maine’s Troy Jackson threw water bottle, but no proof he hit a female lawmaker, as GOP ad says

A Republican group’s ad accuses newly chosen U.S. Senate candidate and Maine Democrat Troy Jackson of striking a woman.

“A volatile personality, anger issues with women, verbal abuse. It’s not Graham Platner. It’s Troy Jackson,” said a July 25 ad by the Senate Leadership Fund, a PAC that aims to protect the Republican Senate majority. “Jackson has a history of conflicts with women, bullying, even intimidation.”

The text on the screen says “hitting female colleague” before the narrator continues talking about Jackson’s conduct. The ad makes numerous claims about Jackson, but for this fact-check, we focused on the claim about hitting.

The ad attributes the statement to The Daily Wire, a conservative publication. The phrase could lead viewers to believe that Jackson struck a woman. However, The Daily Wire’s July 7 story cited a social media post that has since been deleted, and news reports do not support the claim. 

Jackson threw a water bottle during a 2021 argument with Democratic Sen. Heather Sanborn, but the recent news accounts examining the details do not say Jackson or the bottle hit Sanborn. Multiple witnesses interviewed by The New York Times said Jackson did not appear to be aiming at Sanborn when he threw the bottle.

When PolitiFact contacted Jackson’s campaign for comment, campaign adviser BJ McCollister said, “Troy never aimed or threw a plastic water bottle at Senator Sanborn or anyone else, and a firsthand eyewitness confirmed that the bottle was thrown away from everyone and struck no one.”

Republicans unleashed attacks on Jackson, the former state Senate president, after he secured the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, who has held the office for three decades. Platner, who won the primary, suspended his campaign in July after Politico reported an allegation that he sexually assaulted a woman.

Allegation came from a now-deleted social media post

The Daily Wire’s July 7 headline said Jackson was “accused of hitting female colleague during argument.”

The article cited a social media post by Progressive Victory, a political group.

The Daily Wire reported that the post said, “Troy Jackson in a heated disagreement struck a female colleague with a bottle he threw at her. There are many witnesses and it appears this is a widespread open secret within Maine politics and not an isolated incident.”

However, on the night of July 7, Progressive Victory removed the post and said in a statement that it had contained “unverified allegations.” 

The group’s deputy executive director, Benjamin Gilbert-Lif, told PolitiFact that Jackson “never struck anyone and there has been reporting that has shown that. Any ad or political official that cites our post in lieu of that reporting is also spreading unverified and not credible information, just as we did.”

News accounts say Jackson threw water bottle

The Washington Post, CNN and The New York Times reported on Jackson’s temper and said in 2021 he threw a water bottle during a meeting. Jackson was arguing with Sanborn and couldn’t persuade her to vote his way on a bill to lower prescription drug prices. 

None of the news reports said the water bottle struck Sanborn. The news reports have varying details about what the bottle struck when it landed. 

CNN reported based on unnamed sources that Sanborn told colleagues she felt Jackson aimed for her and decided not to run for reelection in part because of his conduct.

PolitiFact reached out to Sanborn, who is now the state’s public advocate representing the interests of Maine utility consumers, and received no reply. 

Jackson’s spokesperson cast the incident as a moment of political passion. “Over 22 years in public office, there have been moments when he let his frustration get the better of him. When that happened, he took responsibility and apologized directly at the time,” McCollister said. 

The campaign offered a witness: state Sen. Mark Lawrence, a Democrat, who was there when Jackson threw the bottle. Lawrence told PolitiFact Jackson “got frustrated and threw a water bottle down but wasn’t directed at anyone. I think it hit the floor and a desk.” Lawrence estimated that Jackson and Sanborn were about 10 to 12 feet apart. 

Lawrence compared it with a softball player throwing a glove down or a tennis player tossing a racquet after a match, saying it’s “been totally blown out of proportion.”

The New York Times wrote that Jackson threw the half-empty water bottle across the room and two witnesses said it hit a wall while another thought it hit a table. All three witnesses said they were certain the bottle was not aimed at Sanborn and that Jackson later apologized to her.

Jackson told the Times, “I shouldn’t have thrown it, but I was passionate,” and added, “Do I wish I’ve never yelled or anything like that? Sure.”

We contacted the Senate Leadership Fund but received no reply.

Our ruling

An ad said Jackson hit a female colleague.

The ad cites The Daily Wire, which pointed to an X post by a progressive group. But the X post was removed, and the group said it was an unverified allegation.

Multiple news outlets reported that Jackson threw a water bottle during an argument with Sanborn, but none of the accounts said the bottle hit her. Multiple witnesses told The New York Times that Jackson did not appear to be aiming at Sanborn when he threw the bottle.

We rate this statement False. 

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this fact-check.

Correction: This fact-check has been updated to change the month that Platner suspended his campaign.

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