Former Senate President Troy Jackson announced Monday that he is running for governor of Maine.

Jackson, a fifth-generation logger who served 20 years in the Legislature, had announced in March that he formed a committee to explore a possible run. The Democrat from Allagash joins what is expected to be a crowded primary field for both parties.

Jackson, 56, said he wants to “build a Maine where working families get ahead, seniors can age with dignity, our environment is protected for future generations, and our kids can afford to stay and build their future here at home.”

“I’ve spent the last few months meeting Mainers in union halls, diners, school cafeterias and town halls across the state who are tired of the status quo and feel under attack from billionaires, special interests and their friends who control Washington. I got my start putting in 80-hour weeks in the woods of northern Maine, barely scraping by,” Jackson said in a written statement Monday. “So when the greedy landowners threatened to replace us if we didn’t work harder for less pay, I had no choice but to stand up and fight back. Since then, I’ve never stopped fighting for the people who keep our state running — the loggers and farmers, teachers and nurses, fishermen and first responders, workers and small-business owners who are getting left behind.”

Jackson said “too many Democrats have lost touch with working people or shown they’re not up for the fight” and highlighted his own experiences living paycheck to paycheck.

“I know I don’t look like traditional candidates and I probably won’t be the chosen candidate of big money donors or the well-connected, and I’m OK with that because I know who I am and what I’m fighting for,” he said.

Jackson is kicking off his campaign with a statewide tour, which began with his formal announcement Monday at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery.

His campaign said Monday that he has already received endorsements from two dozen labor unions, including the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Metal Trades Council, the Maine Building & Construction Trades Council and the American Postal Workers Union Local 536.

Jackson spent 20 years as a state representative and senator and served three consecutive terms as Senate president up until 2024, when he was termed out of seeking reelection in the Senate.

His experience representing more rural parts of the state could benefit Democrats, who have lost an electoral vote to Donald Trump in Maine’s more rural 2nd District in each of the last three presidential elections.

During his time in office, Jackson championed issues such as workers’ rights and child care. In 2021, he sponsored the bill that was incorporated into the state budget to give all Maine students free lunches, and he was invited to speak on a panel at the White House in 2023 after pushing for the inclusion of investments in child care in the budget.

Jackson also clashed with former Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican, during earlier terms in office — a relationship that made headlines in 2013 when LePage said during discussions about the state budget that Jackson, then the assistant Senate majority leader, “claims to be for the people, but he’s the first one to give it to the people without providing Vaseline.”

Jackson ran to represent Maine’s 2nd District in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2014, but lost the Democratic primary to Emily Cain.

Gov. Janet Mills is unable to run for reelection because of term limits, and both parties are expected to have competitive primaries with the chief executive job up for grabs.

With Jackson’s announcement, several familiar names have already entered the Democratic primary race.

Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, who served two terms in the Maine Senate, announced in March that she is seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.

Angus King III, a businessman, renewable energy entrepreneur and the son of U.S. Sen. Angus King Jr., announced this month that he is also seeking the Democratic nomination.

A fourth Democrat, Kenneth Pinet, has also filed campaign finance paperwork but has not yet formally announced a run.

Other Democratic contenders whose names have been floated as potential candidates include U.S. Rep. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, and Hannah Pingree, who said last week she is stepping down from the Governor’s Office of Policy and Innovation and Future. She is a former Maine House speaker and the daughter of U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District.

Republican candidates include Bobby Charles, who served as assistant secretary of state under Colin Powell; Steven Sheppard and Robert Wessels. There is one unenrolled candidate, Alexander Murchison. State Sen. James Libby, R-Standish, has filed campaign finance paperwork and is expected to announce his candidacy this week.