Presumptive Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Graham Platner on Thursday named former state Senate President Troy Jackson as his top choice in the Maine governor’s race.

The news wasn’t a big surprise, as Platner and Jackson have appeared together several times already and are set to join U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont at two events in Maine over Memorial Day weekend.

“Troy and I are entirely aligned on labor issues and organizing issues, and I think our policies align quite closely,” Platner told attendees at a Hancock County Democratic Committee meeting, according to a video posted on social media by Andy O’Brien, communications director for the Maine AFL-CIO.

But Platner said he also ranked two other candidates: former Maine House Speaker Hannah Pingree and Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, although he didn’t say in what order he ranked them.

“Those three candidates, all of them — whether it’s on issues of democracy and standing up to Donald Trump, whether it’s around the environment, whether it’s around like broader progressive values — they are the ones that I think most represent my value set and the kind of future of the Democratic Party and future of the American political system that I want to see,” he said, according to the video posted by O’Brien.

Platner notably did not mention Nirav Shah, Maine’s former Center for Disease Control and Prevention director, who is leading in the polls and is viewed as the frontrunner in the primary.

Absentee voting already is underway in both the Democratic and Republican primaries for governor. Platner has to get through his own primary, too, but his nomination seems assured since Gov. Janet Mills suspended her candidacy last month. David Costello of Brunswick is also on the ballot but is considered a long shot. 

If Platner succeeds on June 9, he will challenge five-term Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins in what is expected to be one of the most expensive and closely watched races in the country.