Dem Senate Hopeful Backed Trans Prison Policy — Female Inmate Says Convicted Killer Threatened To Rape Her

Democratic Maine Senate nominee Troy Jackson voted for a state policy to allow trans-identifying men into women’s prisons prior to a male inmate allegedly threatening to rape a female prisoner.

As Maine Senate president in 2021, Jackson voted for state budget bills that codified Maine’s nondiscrimination laws, which required all state prisons to house trans-identifying individuals in prisons aligning with their gender identity. Under this law, a female inmate allegedly suffered harassment including rape threats from a trans-identifying male housed in the facilities.

Pine Tree Results, a Republican super PAC, launched a $1.1 million advertisement campaign attacking Jackson over his support for this policy

“As Senate president, Jackson signed the bill requiring state prisons to house biological men if they identify as female with women prisoners,” the ad said.

Andrea Balcer, a male inmate convicted of killing his parents and the family dog, was moved from the Maine State Prison to the women’s section of the Maine Correctional Institute in January 2023. Katie Mountain, a female inmate serving a ten-month sentence, filed a lawsuit in April against Maine Department of Corrections Commissioner Randy Liberty, Maine Correctional Center Warden Ben Beal over the alleged harassment she said occurred on their watch.

Mountain alleged that Balcer subjected her to graphic sexual stories, trapped her in the bathroom, forcibly kissed her and repeatedly threatened to rape and impregnate her, according to the lawsuit. Balcer allegedly told Mountain that if she did not wake up, it would be because he “smothered [her] with a pillow.”

Jackson’s campaign did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

Balcer pleaded guilty to stabbing his mother and father, Alice and Antonio Balcer, to death and then killed the dog as it was barking during the murders, according to Maine-based WABI 5. District Court Judge Eric Walker ruled in November 2017 that Balcer would be tried as an adult rather than a juvenile.

Balcer told psychologists that he did not believe his parents would be supportive of his gender identity, which prompted him to kill them, according to Bangor Daily News.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) opened an investigation into whether Maine allowed Balcer to remain housed with women despite the complaints, according to Maine-based WMTW 8. The agency yanked funding to the facility because it continued to house a male.

In Washington, a male prisoner named Christopher Scott Williams allegedly sexually assaulted and terrorized his female cellmate, Molly Clark, at the Washington State Department of Corrections on multiple occasions, the DCNF learned in July 2025. The six-foot, four-inch inmate was initially denied entry into a women’s prison in November 2019 due to his history of violence against women.

Clark alleged in a lawsuit that the state ignored her complaints of sexual harassment and assault, arguing that it directly violated her constitutional right against cruel or unusual punishment.

A male inmate in California was ordered to stand trial in July 2024 for two counts of rape and one count of attempting to dissuade a witness from testifying while being housed in a women’s prison. A state law allowed male inmates to reside in women’s correctional facilities if the men identify as “women or non-binary.”

Jackson is running to unseat Republican Maine Sen. Susan Collins in November. He replaced former Democratic Maine Senate nominee Graham Platner, who dropped out in July after a previous girlfriend, Jenny Racicot, accused him of sexual assault. Racicot deleted all of her messages with Platner and said she avoided going to the police because she felt uncomfortable telling an officer what happened.