A company handling political advertisements for a Republican group ended up placing nearly $25,000 worth of spots promoting Maine Sen. Susan Collins in the Portland area of Oregon rather than her home state. Cross Screen Media handled the buy for ads that attacked her Democratic opponent, Troy Jackson, by calling him a “tax-hiker.”
The Oregon market also covers parts of Washington state, according to data from the Google Political Ad Transparency Center reported by NBC News. Collins has represented Maine in the Senate for almost three decades and is closely tied to the Portland region there. The wrong-coast placement meant the message reached viewers hundreds of miles from the voters it was meant to influence. Once the error surfaced, Cross Screen Media pulled the Oregon ads.
The Republican Main Street Partnership PAC, which ordered the spots, reacted sharply. Its CEO, Sarah Chamberlain, told NBC News she was “absolutely furious” over the placement and called the mistake “ridiculous.”
The PAC and the ad firm describe how the placement went wrong
Chamberlain explained that the buyers made a mistake on one of the placements. She said the ads are down now and they are running them in Portland, Maine. “It has nothing to do with us,” she added. “I would never run an ad in Portland, Oregon, for Susan Collins, for Christ’s sake.”
A spokesperson for Cross Screen Media confirmed to NBC News that the error was “100% our mistake.” The firm said it has already refunded the amount spent on the Oregon run back to the PAC. With the ads corrected, the campaign messaging is now aimed at the intended Maine audience.
The ad controversy arrived shortly after Collins and Jackson faced off in a debate. Collins described her efforts on tariffs with Canada, saying she has been strongly voting against them. She added that she has also been working behind the scenes and succeeded in getting concrete, pulp, and road salt taken off the tariff list, even though Jackson mocked the work.
Jackson, who entered the Senate race in July, answered by noting, “We can’t eat road salt,” a reference to the high cost of living under President Donald Trump. Maine Democrats chose Jackson in July to step in as their candidate after Graham Platner’s campaign was hit by a series of scandals. Platner has denied allegations of sexual assault made against him.
Published: Oct 13, 2026 09:15 am