Summary
A report claims Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson is in a long-term relationship with his second cousin.
The relationship is legal under Maine law, where second-cousin unions are not prohibited.
Jackson's campaign dismissed the report as a political distraction ahead of the election.
Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maine, Troy Jackson, has come under public attention following a report alleging that he has been in a long-term relationship with his high school sweetheart, who is also his second cousin. Read original
According to a report by independent journalist Steve Robinson, Jackson, 58, and Lana Pelletier share two adult sons and are related through the same great-grandparents. The report states that relationships between second cousins are legal under Maine law and are considered uncommon but not unusual in parts of the rural North Maine Woods region near the Canadian border.
Although Jackson, a former logger and former president of the Maine State Senate, has previously referred to Pelletier as his wife, residents familiar with the couple reportedly said they have never been legally married.
The report says both Jackson and Pelletier grew up in the village of Allagash and attended Fort Kent High School together. Genealogical records cited in the report indicate that Jackson's maternal grandmother and Pelletier's paternal grandfather were siblings, making their parents first cousins and the pair second cousins.
Under Maine law, marriages involving close relatives such as parents, children, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews are prohibited. While marriages between first cousins require a signed genetic counselling certificate confirming a low risk of genetic abnormalities, there are no legal restrictions on marriages or relationships between second cousins.
Jackson was officially nominated at a special Democratic Party convention on July 25 to challenge incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins after the withdrawal of Graham Platner.
Reacting to the report, Jackson's campaign accused political opponents of trying to divert attention from key election issues.
"Susan Collins will do anything to distract from the fact that she votes with Trump 96% of the time and has sold out working people in Maine. Personal attacks on Troy's family are shameful and desperate," the campaign said.
The report has generated political discussion in the state, although no allegation has been made that Jackson violated any law, as second-cousin relationships are permitted under Maine's legal framework.
