Graham Platner's replacement in the Maine Senate race suggested the government should be able to take over private property when necessary, appearing to echo socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's housing agenda.
Troy Jackson, a Democrat running for the Senate, came under fire for suggesting the government should be able to take over private property when necessary. The comments drew fresh scrutiny to a candidate the Pine Tree State's GOP chair previously dubbed "Maine's Mamdani" to Fox News Digital, as debates over government intervention in housing and private ownership gain new attention.
"It's a major issue. The greed that's happening right now in this country that people in mobile home parks are feeling is like something I've never seen," Jackson told a small crowd of residents at Blueberry Ridge Mobile Village, one of several Maine trailer parks where concerns about costs, quality-of-life and ownership arose.
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"The other thing that I do hear a lot about, too, is how [landlords] won't do anything for services. And that is completely unfair and not right. And we have to make that change. I feel strongly that if needed, the state should be able to come in [and] take these places over. Some people will say that that's insane," Jackson told the residents in Wells, the town next to the politically-notable Kennebunkport.
"But until the people get the chance to start a co-op or whatever, there should be a way to hold these, so that you don't see private-equity coming in and making the killing on these parks."
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During his visit, Jackson held up a mason jar of brown water a resident said came from their tap.
Jackson said some residents saw their lot rental fees approach $850, adding he once lived at a mobile home park in Aroostook County and understands their plight.
"I'm going to add my voice to that every damn day," he said. "I just can't imagine owning a home and feeling the threat that you do daily and getting the squeeze and not being able to afford that."
Jackson's proposal echoes one of the more aggressive elements of Mamdani's housing agenda: a willingness to use government power to wrest control of troubled properties away from private owners and toward tenants, nonprofits or community stewardship.
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Like Mamdani, Jackson was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) in his prior unsuccessful gubernatorial primary bid earlier this year.
Mamdani's Block by Block housing plan, released in May, calls for aggressive legal action against negligent landlords and says chronically neglected properties could be transferred to community land trusts, nonprofits or tenants.
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"Through the Open-Door program and by supporting community land trusts, we will remove negligent owners and property managers of buildings suffering from chronic neglect or mired in foreclosure and shift ownership to responsible community stewards," Mamdani said in June.
While Mamdani's more nationally-visible rent-freeze plans are materially different from Jackson's considerations, they share a common thread: the government should intervene in the housing market when politicians believe pricing or practices are untoward.
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That commonality led to Jackson being lambasted after the fact.
"Another full-on Communist running for office," said Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer [Ret.], a former intelligence officer, posted to X.
"Troy Jackson is ready to violate the rights of Mainers because he feels that they make too much money engaging in free market commerce," Shaffer tweeted. "Spoken here like the true Stalinist he is."
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The Republican National Committee also caught wind of Jackson's comments, tweeting through their rapid-response arm.
"Troy Jackson wants the government to seize private property from Mainers," they wrote.
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Maine law already gives mobile home park residents a limited pathway to take ownership when a park is put up for sale. Under Title 10, Section 9094-A, a group of mobile home owners or a residents' association has the first option to purchase the park and generally has 60 days after notice of an intended sale to submit an offer.
Fox News Digital reached out to Jackson's and Collins' campaigns and Mamdani for comment.
