PORTLAND — It’s been two weeks since No Nonsense PAC, a pro-Bobby Charles PAC, began spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to prop up former Maine GOP Chairman Rick Bennett and help Charles. New Bangor Daily News reporting reveals that the PAC has nearly doubled their spending in the last two weeks.

Bennett has still been too cowardly to say a word.

That silence is especially convenient for Bennett, who had plenty to say about a Democratic PAC spending to help Hannah Pingree. But now that a PAC backing Charles is dumping money into Bennett’s campaign to siphon votes away from Pingree, he’s suddenly lost his voice.

Multiple news stations asked Bennett about the PAC spending after a Maine Democrats press conference. Bennett declined to comment to anyone.

Bangor Daily News: A pro-Charles group’s plan to boost Rick Bennett has nearly doubled in two weeks.

• No Nonsense PAC, a group backing Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles, has now reported about $493,000 in spending in the governor’s race, up from about $290,000 two weeks ago, according to state campaign finance filings.

• We scooped this group’s existence this month. About $319,000 of the spending opposes Democrat Hannah Pingree, and $169,000 backs independent Rick Bennett. Most of it has gone to digital ads and mail.

• The apparent goal is to split the anti-Pingree vote by lifting Bennett. The group’s latest filing, on Wednesday, also included $5,000 in media production backing Charles directly.

• Its donors include Michigan auto magnate Roger Penske and Freeport’s David DeLorme, at $200,000 each, and New York investor Thomas Klingenstein, at $100,000.

• The group is the only notable Republican-side outside spender in the sleepy race. Republicans have aired just $232,000 in TV ads, nearly all of it from Charles’ campaign, compared with $5.25 million for Democrats, according to AdImpact.