AUGUSTA — Hundreds of Democrats gathered in the Augusta Civic Center on Saturday to select the delegates from Kennebec County who will meet next week to choose the party’s nominee to replace Graham Platner on the November ballot for U.S. Senate.

They appeared to come away with a clear verdict: former Senate President Troy Jackson should be the Democratic nominee.

The Maine Democratic Party will hold a statewide convention in Bangor on July 25 to vote for a nominee who will run against Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. The convention will feature 601 delegates, with 500 delegates apportioned from the 16 counties, plus 101 state committee members.

Kennebec County will send 40 delegates to the convention, and almost 300 Democrats were vying for a spot. Kennebec County Democratic Committee members at the event and at home were able to vote for their preferred delegate candidates online.

Each of the 40 delegates that Kennebec Democrats picked were on Jackson’s listed slate of loyalists.

None of the delegates will be legally obliged to pick any candidate. It’s not clear that Jackson’s list is accurate: three of the candidates were also listed by other candidates as loyal potential delegates. But if his list proves true, Saturday looked to be a strong showing for Jackson, who ran unsuccessfully for governor earlier this year on a platform of economic populism.

“We must, must defeat Susan Collins and elect a great candidate,” Joanne Mason, chair of the Kennebec County Democratic Committee, said as she opened the voting period. “That requires unity, commitment and participation from all, starting today and continuing straight through Election Day.”

Before the voting period began, delegate hopefuls and voters milled around the Civic Center talking to Senate candidates and one another, with some wearing t-shirts and pins advertising their candidate of choice.

Potential delegates had to submit a 200-word statement to declare their candidacy and state why they should be a delegate. Of the 293 statements, 17 delegate candidates said they support Nirav Shah, 15 support Troy Jackson and four said they support Bellows. The rest did not name a specific candidate.

“I am here because this is democracy in action,” Shah said. “We are here to convince folks to vote for delegates that will put me up on the slate in the nomination, and we’re here to watch democracy unfold. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Shah, Jackson and Bellows were all present at the event to meet voters and potential delegates. Other Senate candidates Jordan Wood, Dan Kleban, David Costello, Saundra Pelletier and Elizabeth Cote also appeared.

On Friday and Saturday, Shah, Bellows Jackson released the names of delegates they say will be loyal to them at the convention. The candidates urged supporters to only vote only for the potential delegates who appeared on their lists.

The elected delegates appeared to favor Jackson in the end.

The 40 selected delegates and eight alternates were announced shortly before 3 p.m. to cheers and applause from the remaining audience.

Whitney Kahn, a selected delegate from Winthrop, said she would likely vote for Jackson at the convention after reaching out to members of her community to hear what they were looking for and who they supported.

“I just felt that it was important to do my part,” Kahn said about why she wanted to be a delegate.

Judy Bielecki, a Belgrade resident who was also selected, said she was committed to voting for Jackson because she felt he has the best chance of beating Collins in the Senate race.

“I think (Jackson) can draw support from the very tippy top of Maine to the most southern parts of Maine,” Bielecki said. “I think we have some really fine people in different positions, but I think he is the strongest candidate and has the best chance of beating Susan Collins, and I think all Democrats are pretty much united in having that goal.”