Susan Collins Buyer Confuses Portlands, Runs Ad in Oregon

A recent poll found Republican Sen. Susan Collins trailing Democrat Troy Jackson by 4 percentage points in their race in Maine. It's less clear how she's doing in Oregon, though she might expect a bounce now. A GOP group supporting Collins has mistakenly spent almost $25,000 to air an ad attacking Jackson in Portland, Oregon—which is the wrong state entirely. Google's Political Ad Transparency Center tracked the buy in the Oregon market that reaches into Washington state, NBC News reports. The president of Republican Main Street Partnership, which is tied to the super PAC that made the ad, blamed the "ridiculous" error on the buyer, Cross Screen Media.

Sarah Chamberlain said the ad has been pulled in Oregon and now is running in the same state where the Senate candidates are. "It has nothing to do with us," she said. "I would never run an ad in Portland, Oregon, for Susan Collins, for Christ's sake." Cross Screen Media said it has refunded the misspent money to the PAC. The two Portlands have been confused for each other before, and some Oregonians were amused, per the Washington Post. "Laugh all you want but after these ads, I don't think Troy Jack gets a single vote in Oregon," one online comment said.