GOP Group Drops $25K On Ads for Maine Sen. Susan Collins in Portland… Oregon

(Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via AP Images)

A GOP ad buyer got a rough lesson in geography after spending nearly $25,000 running ads to promote Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) in Portland…Oregon.

Collins, of course, has been the Senator from Portland, Maine, for nearly 30 years.

According to NBC News, “Between $20,000 and $25,000 was spent to deliver the ad to viewers in the Portland, Oregon, area, according to Google Political Ad Transparency Center. The market stretches into Washington state.”

The ad buyer, Cross Screen Media, took down the ads portraying Collins’s competitor Troy Jackson (D) as a “tax-hiker,” once the group realized its mistake.

The CEO of the Republican Main Street Partnership PAC, Sarah Chamberlain, told NBC News she was “absolutely furious” that the buyer made such a “ridiculous” error.

“The buyers made a mistake on one of the placements. It’s down now and they’re running it in Portland, Maine,” Chamberlain said. “It has nothing to do with us. I would never run an ad in Portland, Oregon, for Susan Collins, for Christ’s sake.”

A spokesperson for the Cross Screen Media admitted to NBC News that it was “100% our mistake” and that they’ve refunded the money to the PAC.

Collins was criticized for bragging during last week’s debate with Jackson that she got road salt off of President Donald Trump’s tariff list with Canada.

“I have been strongly voting against the tariffs with Canada,” Collins said. “I’ve also been working behind the scenes. Troy mocked it, but I was successful in getting concrete, pulp, and road salt removed from the tariff list.”

“We can’t eat road salt,” Jackson quipped, referring to the high cost of living under Trump.

Maine Democrats tapped Jackson to replace Graham Platner in July, after a series of scandals rocked his campaign. Platner has denied allegations of sexual assault made against him.

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