As Troy Jackson becomes frontrunner for Maine Democrats, what happens next?
A reminder of the next steps in the frantic replacement process in the Maine Senate race, now that Troy Jackson appears poised to clinch the Democratic nomination.
Over the weekend, all 16 counties elected 500 delegates who will vote in a special convention in Bangor on Saturday – the remaining 101 delegates will come from the state Democratic party committee.
This will the formal process of selecting the new nominee after Graham Platner abruptly ended his campaign following allegations of sexual assault from a former partner.
Jackson, now the progressive frontrunner, once campaigned alongside Platner and received his endorsement during his gubernatorial run, where he finished third.
That proximity to Platner – whose campaign was beset by controversy – raised concerns that Jackson might be tainted in the breakneck process to replace the disgraced former nominee. Questions have also lingered about Jackson’s public speaking style and whether he could match the commanding presence that helped Platner build a statewide populist following.
But Jackson has consolidated support from major unions, numerous state Democrats, and national progressive groups, and he appears to have locked down broad backing from the newly selected delegates. While their commitments are not legally binding, a large majority of the 601 delegates have now pledged to vote for him.
On Sunday, Jackson told Politico it was “incredible” to see people “really concerned about making sure this momentum, this movement continues” as it became clear he would emerge as the presumptive nominee and his rivals dropped out of the competition. His campaign said Monday it was turning its “full focus” to defeating Collins after the weekend’s surge of delegate support.
State Democrats have until 27 July to formally choose Platner’s replacement for the general-election ballot.
Key events
Trump speaks with newly minted British PM Andy Burnham
Donald Trump has spoken to the new British prime minister, Andy Burnham, according to a read-out from Downing Street.
“The prime minister began by congratulating the president on a successful World Cup and agreed that England had an excellent tournament,” according to the release.
Burnham said he hopes that he has the opportunity to show Trump around Manchester, during the president’s next visit to the UK.
“The prime minister also underlined his commitment to defence and security and said ensuring the security of the UK and its allies was at the top of his agenda,” Downing Street noted. “The president then updated on the situation in the Middle East, and the prime minister outlined the UK’s commitment to securing the movement of shipping in the strait of Hormuz to support global supply chains and drive down costs for businesses and families across the country.”
Michael Sainato
High school math teacher Jake Johnson easily recalls the role government assistance played for his family in Stewartville, Minnesota, when he was growing up.
His father was a garbage collector and his mother read meters for the local gas company. They relied on food stamps for groceries and Medicaid for healthcare. When it was time for Johnson to go to college, Pell grants and Stafford loans helped him pay the bill.
“We were broke,” Johnson said. “I got to grow up living what I thought was an American dream, where you work hard and a lot of people invest in you.”
It’s this upbringing that pushed Johnson to run for Congress, trying to take back a US House seat that hasn’t been held by a Democrat since 2018, when Tim Walz vacated it to run for governor.
The congressional district is one of 44 across the country that Democrats say are “in play” in the midterms as the party seeks to gain a majority in Congress. And Johnson is one of a handful of Democratic candidates with a background in the labor movement who are trying to connect with workers frustrated with the economy.
Johnson is running against incumbent Republican Brad Finstad, who has held the seat since 2022, and he is trying to convince voters that Finstad has supported policies that have hurt them. Trump’s tariffs have especially caused a surge in prices, Johnson said, in the predominantly rural district that he says is the ninth most agriculturally productive in the US.
“A huge piece of affordability is ending the tariffs and rebuilding our export markets and lowering input costs for our farmers, small businesses and families,” Johnson said, adding that the Iran war has also increased fertilizer costs. “We’ve already got farmers who are planning ahead for the fall going, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get my fertilizer preordered for next season.’”
Members of Congress respond to incident at 26 Federal Plaza
Congressional lawmakers in New York have condemned the incident where a man allegedly set a fire outside a federal immigration building before being taken into custody.
In a statement Senator Chuck Schumer, the minority leader who represents New York, said that “violence like this is never acceptable”.
“I applaud local and federal law enforcement and the FDNY for their quick actions in response to the disturbing, violent attack at 26 Federal Plaza this morning. Their prompt actions kept people safe and helped apprehend the suspect,” he wrote in a statement.
Similarly, New York congressman Hakeem Jeffries, the top House Democrat, called for “the individual responsible for this must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law”.
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani calls incident outside 26 Federal Plaza ‘deeply disturbing’
New York mayor Zohran Mamdani called the incident outside 26 Federal Plaza, which saw an “incendiary device” deployed, “deeply disturbing”.
“I’m relieved no one was seriously injured and that a suspect is in custody,” Mamdani wrote on social media. “My team is in touch with the NYPD and we will support the federal investigation. Our administration will continue to ensure that every New Yorker is safe in their city – and hold accountable any who threaten that.”
José Olivares
Ismael Zambada García, the Mexican drug lord known as “El Mayo”, who co-founded and led the Sinaloa cartel, was sentenced to life in prison by a Brooklyn federal judge on Monday morning and was ordered to forfeit $15bn in drug proceeds.
The 76-year-old Zambada, who has spent nearly two years inside a Brooklyn federal prison, limped inside the courtroom dressed in a beige prison outfit, with white hair and a beard. Before his sentencing, Zambada read a public letter, saying that he took responsibility for his crimes and calling for an end to the violence that has plagued Mexico for decades during the drug-fueled conflict.
“I did not go to trial because I did not want to deny the truth,” Zambada read aloud in court, adding that “violence must end” and urging the next generation of drug traffickers to “choose a different path”.
Zambada helped lead the Sinaloa cartel, one of Mexico’s biggest organized crime groups, and signed a guilty plea last August admitting to trafficking tons of cocaine, marijuana, heroin and, in recent years, fentanyl. He also admitted to engaging in violence to further the cartel’s business operations and corrupting Mexican public officials.
The federal judge, Brian Cogan, said his sentencing was “anticlimactic”, due to his plea agreement and the general understanding by all parties involved that Zambada would spend the rest of his life in prison.
“I think he deserves life,” Cogan said, but added that even if anyone disagreed, the US government’s sentencing guidelines would require a life-in-prison sentence due to the severity of Zambada’s crimes.
Zambada’s defense attorneys requested that the judge recommend the Bureau of Prisons to send Zambada to a federal medical facility, rather than a traditional prison, due to his medical conditions. The kingpin’s medical conditions are redacted in court records, but the judge mentioned during the sentencing hearing that Zambada was “drifting” towards being “cognitively impaired”. Mexican outlets have reported Zambada is dealing with the early stages of dementia. The Bureau of Prisons still has to evaluate where Zambada will be sent to serve the rest of his days.
FBI investigating ‘incendiary device’ deployed outside New York ICE holding facility
The FBI is investigating an incident where an “incendiary device” that was deployed outside 26 Federal Plaza, a notorious Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) holding facility in New York.
In a statement, FBI director Kash Patel said that “an individual is in custody and two minor injuries reported thus far”. The Joint Terrorism Task Force is also part of the investigation.
The building is also the site of the largest federal immigration courthouse in Manhattan, where there have been several instances of people being apprehended by federal officials waiting just outside courtrooms, following immigration hearings.
My colleague Julius Constantine-Motal reported from the courthouse last month, and captured instances of people being detained after their appearances in court by federal agents who are often masked.
José Olivares
One of Mexico’s most important and significant drug traffickers in recent history will be sentenced this morning by a federal judge in Brooklyn and will probably spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Ismael Zambada García, the 76-year-old Mexican drug lord known as “El Mayo”, helped co-found and lead the Sinaloa cartel, becoming one of the most wanted targets by US intelligence and law enforcement agencies for decades.
El Mayo signed a guilty plea last August and decided not to proceed with a federal trial that would have likely lasted weeks and cost the US government millions of dollars. El Mayo is facing life-in-prison, due to his age, the gravity of his crimes and the guilty plea he signed. The US government is also asking that he pay $15bn as part of his punishment.
As one of the co-founders of the Sinaloa cartel, El Mayo is one of the biggest drug traffickers in the history of the US-Mexico drug war. The US government has accused him of trafficking tons of cocaine, marijuana, heroin and, in recent years, fentanyl to the US and other parts of the world. Prosecutors also accused him of being one of the leaders of a violent organization that led to corruption among Mexican politicians, military officials and law enforcement agents.
Although Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is known to be the face of the Sinaloa cartel, the elderly Mayo was known to be the elusive leader, who ran the cartel’s operations from behind the scenes. El Mayo was little seen by the public and was relatively unknown, in sharp contrast to El Chapo.
El Mayo’s arrest in 2024, however, came as a shock. During a mysterious operation, he was beaten and kidnapped by one of El Chapo’s sons and was flown across the border to New Mexico, where he was arrested by US federal agents. It is still unknown whether US agencies helped facilitate the cross-border kidnapping operation that led to his arrest. El Chapo’s son, who orchestrated the kidnapping, pled guilty late last year and has become a cooperating witness for the US justice department.
El Mayo’s arrest led to a splintering of the Sinaloa cartel, with El Mayo’s son and El Chapo’s sons leading different factions in a raging intra-cartel war for territory that has ravaged parts of Mexico.
El Mayo’s sentence comes amid a difficult time in US-Mexico relations, as the Trump administration has escalated its pressure on the Mexican government to further attack criminal groups. Last year, the Trump administration designated the Sinaloa cartel as a terrorist group and has threatened military intervention to attack the cartel and other drug trafficking organizations.
Reporters are heading up to the courtroom now, where the Brooklyn federal judge Brian Cogan, who also presided over El Chapo’s trial years ago, will dictate El Mayo’s sentence.
As Troy Jackson becomes frontrunner for Maine Democrats, what happens next?
A reminder of the next steps in the frantic replacement process in the Maine Senate race, now that Troy Jackson appears poised to clinch the Democratic nomination.
Over the weekend, all 16 counties elected 500 delegates who will vote in a special convention in Bangor on Saturday – the remaining 101 delegates will come from the state Democratic party committee.
This will the formal process of selecting the new nominee after Graham Platner abruptly ended his campaign following allegations of sexual assault from a former partner.
Jackson, now the progressive frontrunner, once campaigned alongside Platner and received his endorsement during his gubernatorial run, where he finished third.
That proximity to Platner – whose campaign was beset by controversy – raised concerns that Jackson might be tainted in the breakneck process to replace the disgraced former nominee. Questions have also lingered about Jackson’s public speaking style and whether he could match the commanding presence that helped Platner build a statewide populist following.
But Jackson has consolidated support from major unions, numerous state Democrats, and national progressive groups, and he appears to have locked down broad backing from the newly selected delegates. While their commitments are not legally binding, a large majority of the 601 delegates have now pledged to vote for him.
On Sunday, Jackson told Politico it was “incredible” to see people “really concerned about making sure this momentum, this movement continues” as it became clear he would emerge as the presumptive nominee and his rivals dropped out of the competition. His campaign said Monday it was turning its “full focus” to defeating Collins after the weekend’s surge of delegate support.
State Democrats have until 27 July to formally choose Platner’s replacement for the general-election ballot.
Tom Perkins
The Trump administration has killed proposed regulations for sewage sludge contaminated with Pfas and spread on farmland as fertilizer, a practice that has sickened farmers, destroyed their livelihoods, killed livestock, polluted water supplies, and poisoned meat and food products sold to the public.
The proposed regulations would largely have ended the use of sludge, also called biosolids, in the nation’s food system. But the Environmental Protection Agency tossed out its scientific research from less than two years ago that formed the basis of the proposed regulations. It justified the decision by declaring that sludge was not a wide threat to the public because it is mostly used on farms, and only a small percentage of cropland.
However, in comments published to the federal register, the EPA also advised the US public to “research” sludge companies to protect itself from the highly toxic chemicals contaminating home fertilizer widely sold for use in home gardens.
The decision is “a bit bonkers”, said Laura Dumais, an attorney with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer) non-profit.
“It’s shocking for the EPA to take a scientific assessment and simply throw it out,” Dumais said. “Basically, they’re saying: farmers’ lives don’t matter.”
Pfas are a class of about 16,000 compounds dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down, and accumulate in the human body and environment. The chemicals are linked to a range of serious health problems like cancer, liver disease, kidney issues, high cholesterol, birth defects and decreased immunity.
Sludge is a mix of human and industrial waste that is a byproduct of treating waste sent through the nation’s sewer system. Its disposal is expensive, and the EPA in the early 1990s began allowing it to be spread on cropland because it is also rich in plant nutrients.
Donald Trump congratulated his vice-president, JD Vance, and his wife, Usha, on the birth of their fourth child.
“A perfect baby boy for the wonderful Vance family,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
A reminder that my colleagues are tracking the latest developments in the Middle East – including new reporting from the New York Times that, in the week before Friday’s Iranian strike that killed two American troops in Jordan, Iran carried out three additional attacks on US forces in the country. Dozens of service members were injured, but the Pentagon did not disclose either the strikes or the resulting casualties.
The Times, citing several unnamed US officials, also reports that the attacks in Jordan damaged multiple helicopters – another detail the Pentagon reportedly kept secret.
