A Republican-aligned super PAC mistakenly bought ads attacking Maine Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson in the wrong state, the PAC confirmed to Newsweek on Monday. Once the error was identified, the ads were “immediately stopped and corrected,” the statement said. The vendor is also refunding the PAC the full amount of the misplaced spend, and no donor funds will be lost.
The Maine Senate race is expected to be among the most competitive of the 2026 midterm elections. Maine leans Democratic, as President Donald Trump lost by 7 points in 2024, but incumbent Republican Senator Susan Collins remains a formidable opponent, having won by wide margins in past elections. Still, Democrats believe Jackson, the former president of the Maine Senate, has a strong chance to unseat Collins in a national environment expected to favor Democrats this year, as Trump’s national approval rating declines amid growing frustration with the economy and the high cost of living.
The advertisement was purchased by the Defending Main Street PAC, which supports moderate Republicans. The digital ad attacks Jackson’s tax record, saying Maine “can’t afford Troy Jackson and all his taxes.” The ad was seen more than 1.25 million times, according to data from the Google Ads Transparency Center. Screenshots spread across social media showed that Oregon-based ZIP codes were selected for the ad, but by Monday afternoon, the ad was set to the correct region.
Dan Gottlieb, a Jackson spokesperson, posted about the error on X. Good luck convincing Mainers you know what’s best for them when you don’t know which Portland they live in,” he wrote. The Maine Senate race is one of a handful of toss-ups that could determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the Senate after the midterms.
It’s seen as one of Democrats’ top pickup opportunities to flip a GOP-held seat given the state’s Democratic lean and the national environment, despite Collins historically being a strong candidate. Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority, so Democrats have to flip four seats to win control of the Senate, as Vice President JD Vance would serve as the tiebreaker in an evenly divided chamber. In addition to Maine, North Carolina, which Trump won by 3 points, is seen as a top Democratic flip opportunity.
No other GOP-held seats exist in states Trump won by a single-digit margin or outright lost in 2024, so Democrats already have to win two double-digit Trump states to reach a majority. If Democrats fail to flip Maine, their path to a Senate majority would narrow, as they’d have to make up that loss by winning in an additional double-digit Trump state with less favorable fundamentals for their party. On Friday, a new poll from The Washington Post and George Mason University, conducted from September 30 to October 5, showed Jackson up 4 points over Collins, 50 percent to 46 percent, among 800 likely voters.
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