On a Friday in late July 2024, I got a call from Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. They wanted to ask me whether I, a New York delegate to the Democratic National Convention, still planned to vote for the then-president for the 2024 Democratic nomination. Roughly 72 hours later, I received an email from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in my inbox, addressed to New York’s delegates, with the subject line “Uniting Behind Vice President Kamala Harris.” We did. What resulted was a deeply controversial moment in the party’s history — swapping out a nominee through a process that felt democratically legitimate.
Now, two years later, the Maine Democratic Party is facing a similar dynamic following the withdrawal of its Senate nominee, Graham Platner, from a hotly contested and consequential race against Republican incumbent Sen. Susan Collins. It seems the Maine Democratic Party leadership understands it cannot repeat the insider mistakes of the 2024 election, but it still seems to be forgetting another lesson Democrats missed in 2024: crisis breeds opportunity.
While this more open approach is welcome and necessary, simply avoiding past errors is not enough.
Biden paired his decision to drop out of the presidential race with an announcement of full support for Harris as his replacement, even as figures like former President Barack Obama and Rep. Nancy Pelosi reportedly hesitated behind the scenes. As I wrote at the time, a difficult scenario had emerged: Harris was a historic figure, first in line to the presidency, with a resumé better than most others sitting on the not-so-deep Democratic presidential bench, but she would face racism and sexism that some other candidates would not. Yet at the same time, if there was an open process to select Biden’s replacement and voters did not pick Harris, what would that signal to a party base long driven by women and voters of color?
With few good options, and a growing urgency to coalesce around a nominee, my fellow delegates and I voted to nominate Harris. The rest is history: before Biden dropped out, voters had preferred an open convention, and to some, the undemocratic process of swapping in the vice president was alienating.
Now Maine Democrats, faced with a similar scenario seem to have avoided (at least the appearance of) that same closed process. Over the weekend, Democratic voters in the state’s 16 counties chose 500 delegates to join about 100 members of a state party committee at a nominating convention this Saturday in Bangor. Throughout the process, Maine Democrats have emphasized openness. There were multiple candidates, no clear consensus, no Biden-style endorsement to shut down the conversation and even a process for new voices to be selected as delegates since the Platner news broke.
As of this weekend, supporters of Troy Jackson, former Maine Senate president, seem to have secured most of those open delegate slots. His most prominent rivals have already dropped out of the race, putting him on track to secure the nomination this Saturday in Bangor.
While this more open approach is welcome and necessary, simply avoiding past errors is not enough. Jackson may have become Platner’s replacement through a process voters view as fairer and distinct from the 2024 effort to swap out Biden, but Democrats seem willing to let the process play out with little fanfare. Jackson will receive the nomination at a convention that is perfunctory rather than spectacular.
As potential 2028 contender Rahm Emanuel famously noted, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” As few understand better than President Donald Trump, that is particularly true in the modern attention economy.
A nomination crisis is not just a test of democracy, but an opportunity to showcase it — and win back trust in the process.
All eyes are on Maine, and with the increased stakes, the party should put on a show fit for a leading-edge democracy in 2026. A few weeks was not enough time to totally revamp the procedural processes required. But where were the interactive, nonbinding, statewide polls of Maine Democrats? Where were the citizen-driven candidate forums with top political creators and questions sourced from voters?
And even with the nominee’s identity all but assured, there is still time to get creative and produce a convention that demonstrates agility. According to the Maine Democratic Party website, “only credentialed delegates, credentialed press, and staff will be permitted to attend” the convention, but why not create a lottery system to have voters attend in person? Why not get those voters on the livestream sharing their experience in real time? Invite some nonpolitical local influencers to reach a broader audience. A nomination crisis is not just a test of democracy, but an opportunity to showcase it — and win back trust in the process. Maine Democrats followed an open process that may allow them to skirt criticism, but it matters less if nobody follows along.
Control of the Senate hangs in the balance. Collins has shown a knack for political survival. Avoiding the mistakes of 2024 will not be enough to flip this critical Senate seat. Democrats have a captive audience as the country watches Maine — they should use it to show voters what a modern, messy and robust participatory democracy looks like.
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