GOP Super PAC Runs $25,000 in Anti-Jackson Ads in Oregon by Mistake
The ads targeting Maine's Democratic Senate candidate drew more than 1.2 million impressions in over 260 Oregon ZIP codes before being pulled.
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A Republican super PAC spent roughly $25,000 on advertising attacking Maine Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Troy Jackson — and aimed it at the wrong Portland, the Portland Press Herald reported.
The spots, funded by Defending Main Street, appeared in the Portland, Oregon, market across more than 260 ZIP codes from Oct. 8 to Oct. 11, 2026, based on records in the Google Ads Transparency Center cited by the newspaper. The campaign drew upward of 1.2 million views before the placement was corrected to run in Maine on Oct. 12.
A spokesperson for the PAC said in an email that the mistake was caught, the ads were halted and the vendor is returning the entire sum spent in Oregon, so no donor money will be lost. The PAC also passed along a statement from its vendor, the 1903 Group, blaming the error on Cross Screen Media, a political advertising firm the holding company owns.
Dan Gottlieb, a spokesperson for Jackson's campaign, said allies of Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins "can't even find it on a map." Collins' office had not responded to a request for comment as of the evening of Oct. 12, according to the Press Herald.
This story was first reported by The Portland Press Herald.
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