A super PAC that supports Republican candidates confirmed its media vendor mistakenly sent ads attacking Troy Jackson, a Democratic Senate candidate, to Portland, Oregon, instead of Portland, Maine.
A spokesperson for Defending Main Street said in a statement that its media vendor, the 1903 Group, mistakenly placed roughly $25,000 in digital advertising in the Portland, Oregon, media market over the past week — on the opposite side of the country from Maine, where Jackson is running to oust Republican Sen. Susan Collins.
“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. No donor funds will be lost as a result of the vendor’s error,” the spokesperson said.
The 1903 Group said the issue was “100% a Cross Screen Media error,” referring to a company within the group. The company said it stopped the incorrect campaign, got the ads into the correct Portland market and refunded the cost of the ads that aired in the wrong market.
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The mix-up, first reported by The Intercept, attracted social media attention over the weekend from Oregonians, who were served an ad that focused on Jackson’s votes in Maine’s state Senate in favor of increases to sales, gas, property and income taxes, calling him “Taxin’ Troy Jackson.”
Dan Gottlieb, a spokesperson for the Jackson campaign, used the opportunity to hit Collins back.
“Susan Collins’ allies are so out of touch with Maine, they can’t even find it on a map. Good luck convincing Mainers you know what’s best for them when you don’t know which Portland they live in,” he said.
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