ICYMI: As Collins’ Support from Mainers Slides, Super PAC Funded by “Close Trump Ally” Running Ads to Prop Her Up

 

Super PAC funded by seven wealthy out-of-state donors, including a top Trump ally, running ads in Maine to prop up Collins’ reelection amid cratering poll numbers

 

In case you missed it, Senator Susan Collins’ allies are very worried about her reelection chances -- so much so that a super PAC funded exclusively by wealthy out-of-staters and Trump allies is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads to prop her up 14 months out from Election Day. This comes as Collins’ approval numbers are at an “all-time low,” she has become the second most unpopular senator in the country, and nonpartisan analysts are shifting the race in Democrats’ direction.

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

 

Portland Press Herald: Outside group spends big on media blitz to support Sen. Collins’ campaign

Kevin Miller

9/18/19

  • “The campaign by 1820 PAC is the latest effort by independent groups – many funded by secretive 'dark money' – to flood Maine with ads in the 2020 U.S. Senate race. Another outside political group is spending six figures on television ads in Maine, this time supporting incumbent Republican Sen. Susan Collins as she faces what could be her toughest reelection battle.”

 

  • “A financial disclosure report filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission shows that a group called 1820 PAC spent $276,780 on “media placement” in support of Collins. That is roughly one-third of the money that 1820 PAC – presumably named for the year Maine attained statehood – has collected from a handful of wealthy donors around the country, with $500,000 alone coming from New York billionaire Stephen Schwarzman. … Financial reports filed by the PAC show that seven individuals or entities donated $776,000 to 1820 PAC.”

 

  • “The largest donor, by far, was Schwarzman, a close Trump ally who serves as CEO and co-founder of the private equity firm Blackstone Group. The campaign finance watchdog group, the Center for Public Integrity, said the $12.9 million donated by Schwarzman and his wife, Christine, during the 2018 election cycle ranked him ninth overall among individual political donors. All of that money flowed to Republican or conservative candidates and organizations. Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group also owns one of the health care organizations that has bankrolled a national ad campaign seeking to pressure members of Congress, including Collins, on legislation dealing with unexpected medical bills. The political action group Doctor Patient Unity reportedly reserved more than six-figures worth of airtime in Maine – part of a national ad campaign that The New York Times recently pegged at $28 million – for ads that tell listeners to ‘ask Senator Collins to protect patients.’”

 

  • “The six-figure, pro-Collins media blitz comes at a time when opponents of Collins are seizing on a new sexual misconduct allegation against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh to remind Maine voters about her pivotal vote to support his nomination. The vote prompted several progressive groups to raise more than $4 million for an as-yet-undetermined Democratic opponent in 2020. … Collins’ opponents are trying to chip away at her reputation as a moderate Republican by tying her to President Trump – who is unpopular with independents and moderates who have supported her in the past – and to Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.”

 

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