The former Illinois’ public health chief who oversaw a series of fatal Legionnaires disease outbreaks at the Quincy veterans home has dropped his bid for the U.S. Senate in Maine — becoming one of several Democrats who are instead supporting the candidacy of Troy Jackson, the state’s Senate president.
Nirav Shah dropped out of the race on Sunday after the Maine Democratic Party held weekend caucuses to determine who would be best to replace Graham Platner as the party’s nominee to take on Maine’s Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. The race is pivotal in determining control of Congress’ upper chamber. Platner dropped out of the race amid sexual assault allegations, although he has said his decision was not an admission of guilt.
Shah, who also led Maine’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention and served as deputy director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, endorsed Jackson in a statement that also said Democrats can’t defeat Collins “without a united Democratic Party.” Shah most recently ran for governor of Maine but lost in the primary.
“Susan Collins, Donald Trump, and Senate Republicans are banking on disunity and frustration from Maine Democrats to try and win this seat, and we are not going to give them that,” Shah said. “Maine Democrats are united, angry, and energized. Now, that energy moves to the most important fight of all: defeating Susan Collins and flipping the United States Senate.”
Shah joined Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, Dan Kleban, a brewery owner, and Jordan Wood, a former Capitol Hill staffer, in suspending their campaigns over the weekend. Bellows is the only candidate who has not announced an endorsement of Jackson.
Before moving to Maine, Shah presided over a series of fatal Legionnaires disease outbreaks at the state of Illinois’ veterans’ home in downstate Quincy. Those outbreaks were linked to 14 resident deaths and the sickening of dozens of other staff and residents at the former facility. His oversight under Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration was condemned at the time for worsening the horrific and preventable public health crisis and causing a greater loss of life.
The debacle, laid bare in a series of investigative reports by WBEZ, helped Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker wrest the Executive Mansion from Rauner in 2018 and led to new state laws and a new veterans home in Quincy. It also prompted more than $6 million in wrongful death payouts by the state to victims’ families.
Some Illinoisans quickly spoke out about Shah’s candidacy, including U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, state Sen. Cristina Castro, D-Elgin, and Tim Miller, the son of a veteran who died at the veterans’ home amid the Legionnaires’ disease outbreak.
Duckworth, who asked for Shah’s resignation in 2018, responded to his candidacy by posting on social media: “Maine deserves better than someone who put his public image before the safety of our veterans. Shah responded that he had “deep respect” for Duckworth but dismissed criticism over his handling of the outbreak at Quincy by calling them “recycled attacks” from “outside groups.”
Shah has addressed the outbreak publicly, most recently at a May 5 Maine gubernatorial primary debate.
“I could have done better, and that is, as you noted, I could have done a better job communicating, and I learned that lesson,” Shah said.
Contributing: Dave McKinney