By Maine Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Troy Jackson has two adult sons with a woman who is his second cousin by blood, according to a shocking new report.
Jackson, 58, is a fifth-generation logger and longtime politician from Allagash, a remote northern Maine community of approximately 240 residents. He served for years in the state Legislature and eventually became president of the Maine Senate.
— Steve Robinson (@SteveRob) July 30, 2026
Maine Democrats selected Jackson on July 25 to replace Graham Platner, who won the party’s June primary before withdrawing from the race amid a rape allegation that he denied.
Platner’s campaign had already faced controversy over a chest tattoo depicting an image widely recognized as a Nazi symbol. Platner said he did not understand the symbol’s meaning when he received the tattoo and later had it covered.
A woman who said she had previously dated Platner subsequently accused him of raping her. Platner called the allegation false, but several prominent Democrats withdrew their endorsements and urged him to leave the race. He formally withdrew July 10, forcing party delegates to select a new nominee to face Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
The replacement process brought renewed attention to Jackson’s personal life and his decades-long relationship with Lana Pelletier.
Jackson and Pelletier have reportedly been together since attending high school in the Fort Kent area, according to The New York Post. They have two sons, Chace and Camden.
Genealogical records show that Jackson and Pelletier share the same great-grandparents, Thomas Pelletier and Edith Thibodeau.
Thomas and Edith’s daughter Albertine was Jackson’s grandmother. Their son Louis Sr. was Pelletier’s grandfather.
That makes Jackson’s mother, Colleen McBreairty, and Pelletier’s father first cousins. Jackson and Pelletier are therefore second cousins.
The relationship has long been known in Allagash, where a small population and generations of overlapping Pelletier, McBreairty, Jackson, and O’Leary family lines have produced closely intertwined genealogies.
Jackson and Pelletier have never legally married, although Jackson has sometimes referred to her as his wife in official materials. His campaign currently describes Pelletier as his partner.
The couple has lived together, raised their sons and appeared jointly on some legal documents for years.
Pelletier has largely remained outside the political spotlight. She currently works as a clinical care specialist for the Maine Department of Health and Human Services.
The relationship does not violate Maine law.
Maine requires first cousins seeking a marriage license to provide a physician’s certificate showing that they have received genetic counseling. The state places no comparable restriction on second cousins.
Second cousins share an estimated 3.125 percent of their DNA through recent common ancestors. The additional risk of recessive genetic disorders among children of second cousins is generally considered negligible compared with the risks involving more closely related couples.
Marriages between distant cousins have also occurred throughout American political history.
President John Adams married his third cousin Abigail Smith. Thomas Jefferson married his third cousin Martha Wayles Skelton, while Franklin D. Roosevelt married Eleanor Roosevelt, his fifth cousin once removed.
Jackson’s relationship could nevertheless present an unusual question under federal financial-disclosure rules.
Senate candidates are required to report certain assets, income and liabilities belonging to their spouses and dependent children. Jackson and Pelletier, however, are not legally married, and Maine does not recognize common-law marriage.
It is therefore unclear from the publicly available Senate guidance whether Pelletier’s finances would be included in Jackson’s disclosure reports despite the couple’s longstanding relationship.
Jackson has not publicly commented on the shared family connection. His campaign materials continue to identify Pelletier simply as his partner.
Jackson will face Collins in the Nov. 3 general election as Democrats seek to recover from the collapse of Platner’s scandal-plagued campaign and capture a seat considered critical to control of the U.S. Senate.
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