Maine Democratic Senate nominee Troy Jackson declined to put a number on his plan to tax billionaires during a CNN interview that aired Monday, telling host Dana Bash the details would come together after he reaches the Senate.
The exchange came during an appearance on “Inside Politics,” according to a clip flagged by Breitbart News. Bash had asked Jackson to specify what kind of levy he had in mind, noting that he had said on the campaign trail he would tax billionaires once elected.
“Well, the income tax,” Jackson replied.
Bash pressed for the rate. “I know, but at what percentage?”
“Well, I’m sure we’ll figure out what that percentage is going to be when I get there,” Jackson said. “But no more income tax cuts and rolling back the cuts that they’ve already got.”
Three Tries, No Number
That answer prompted a third attempt from the host, who asked Jackson to define the threshold β how far he would roll back rates, whom he counts as wealthy, and at what income level the definition kicks in.
Jackson did not supply a figure or a bracket. Instead he described a broad category of upper-income earners he believes are getting a better deal than working families.
“People that are making millions of dollars a year that are getting tax cuts, people that are not paying anything on their earnings, no taxes on that,” he said. “Those are all β there [are] all kinds of opportunities to make a fair taxation system.”
He went on to say the specifics would be hashed out with colleagues in both parties, and that there is time to do it.
“And I’m sure that we’ll have to sit down and work with our colleagues, both on the Democratic and Republican side, to come up with exactly to what extent that’s going to be,” Jackson said. “But there’s lots of time to do that and to come up with something that’ll pay for those things and make a fair tax system where middle-class people don’t pick up all the burden.”
An Unfinished Policy, or a Deliberate Dodge?
The moment fits a familiar pattern in Senate campaigns, where candidates often promise to make “the wealthy pay their fair share” without committing to the arithmetic that would make the pledge concrete. Once in office, a senator’s leverage over tax rates depends on committee assignments, the chamber’s math and whatever package is actually moving β all reasons candidates cite for staying vague on the trail.
But it also hands opponents an easy line of attack. A candidate who says he will tax billionaires and then, asked directly for a percentage, says he will work it out later can be framed as unprepared on a central plank of his own platform. Bash’s repeated follow-ups made that tension visible in a single segment.
Jackson’s answer did contain one firm commitment: he wants to end further income tax cuts and roll back reductions already enacted. What that rollback would look like in dollars, and which taxpayers would feel it, remains undefined.
Where the Race Goes From Here
Maine’s Senate contest has drawn national attention as Democrats look to expand their map in a state that has sent both parties to Washington. Jackson’s biography β a longtime legislator and former Senate president from Aroostook County β is central to his pitch to working-class voters, and his tax message is built for that audience.
The problem is that broad appeals to fairness invite the question Bash asked. Voters and reporters tend to want a number, and “when I get there” is not one.
It is not unusual for candidates to leave the fine print of tax proposals for the legislative process, and Jackson framed his approach that way β a negotiating position rather than a detailed bill. Still, the interview is likely to be clipped and circulated by his opponent, and the question of what rate he actually supports will probably follow him to the next debate or town hall.
For now, the cleanest summary of the plan is the one Jackson gave CNN: an income tax on billionaires, with the percentage still to be determined β presumably, by him, once he arrives in the Senate.
Source: www.breitbart.com β https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2026/10/20/troy-jackson-well-figure-out-what-percent-i-want-to-tax-billionaires-when-i-get-there/