Pro-Collins ads target wrong Portland in GOP super PAC mix-up

Pro-Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) ads appeared to target the wrong city of Portland in a GOP super PAC mix-up, running ads in Oregon instead of Maine.

“During a recent independent expenditure, our media vendor mistakenly placed approximately $25,000 in digital advertising in the Portland, Oregon media market instead of Portland, Maine,” a spokesperson from Republican Main Street Partnership (RMSP), a GOP super PAC, told The Hill.

“The error was identified, the ads were immediately stopped and corrected, and the vendor is refunding Defending Main Street the full amount of the misplaced spend,” the spokesperson said. “No donor funds will be lost as a result of the vendor’s error.”

The mix-up was first reported by NBC News, which identified a Portland, Oregon resident saying on social platform X, she received “5 anti-Troy Jackson ads in the last 24 hours.”

According to Google Ads Transparency Center, the ]ads ran for 4 days and targeted various zip codes around the Portland, Oregon-area. Before the ad was taken down, it was shown over 1 million times to people across all demographics in Oregon.

A spokesperson from RMSP also directed The Hill to statements from Sarah Chamberlain, the president and CEO of RMSP. In the statements to NBC News, Chamberlain said she was “absolutely furious” that the ad buyer, Cross Screen Media, made such a “ridiculous” error.

“It has nothing to do with us. I would never run an ad in Portland, Oregon, for Susan Collins, for Christ’s sake,” Chamberlain said.

Cross Screen Media released a statement Monday, saying that it was “100% our mistake,” adding that they have refunded the $25,909.61 to the super PAC and began running the ads in Portland, Maine.

Collins is running to defend her seat for a sixth term against Democrat Troy Jackson, the former president of Maine’s state Senate. The pair faced off in a debate last week that focused on the impact Trump administration tariffs against Canada were having on Maine residents.

Decision Desk HQ, a partner of The Hill, gives Jackson a 54 percent chance of flipping the seat.