Super PAC buys Troy Jackson attack ad in Portland, Oregon
Maine Super‑PAC Accidentally Broadcast Attack Ads in Oregon Targeting Senate Candidate Troy Jackson
A Republican‑aligned Super‑PAC that supports Senator Susan Collins accidentally ran more than 260 000 $25,000 in political ads against Democrat Troy Jackson, Maine’s U.S. Senate hopeful, in Oregon between Oct. 8 and Oct. 11. The campaign’s ads, intended for Maine voters, were mistakenly shown across the Portland, Oregon region, the PAC’s staff later confirmed.
According to the Google Ads Transparency Center, the misleading ads were delivered to over 1.2 million viewers in the Pacific Northwest and were abruptly halted on Monday when the mistake was discovered. The Super‑PAC, called Defending Maine Street, has pledged to refund the entire $25,000 to its donors and assures that no money will be lost because of the vendor’s error.
“We immediately stopped the campaign and corrected the mistake, and the vendor is refunding us the full amount,” a spokesperson for Defending Maine Street wrote in an email to the Press Herald. “No donor funds will be lost as a result of the vendor’s error.”
The ads were produced by the 1903 Group through its political advertising arm, Cross Screen Media. 1903 Group representatives issued a statement saying, “This was 100 % a Cross Screen Media error.” The company has no public history of similar incidents.
The campaign of Maine Senate candidate Troy Jackson criticized the mistake, calling it evidence of Collins’ allies being “so out of touch with Maine” that they “can’t even find it on a map.” Jackson’s spokesperson Dan Gottlieb added, “Good luck convincing Mainers you know what’s best for them when you don’t know which Portland they live in.”
A spokesperson for Senator Collins did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.
The error comes amid heightened scrutiny of political advertising as the 2026 election season ramps up. The campaign finance watchdogs and state election officials are monitoring the situation to ensure that such mistakes do not influence the electoral process. For now, the only outcome is a costly correction and a reminder that targeted political advertising can, on occasion, miss its intended audience entirely.
