Groups tied to top Senate Democrats put $10M into final ad blitz against Susan Collins

Two groups tied to Democratic leadership in the U.S. Senate dumped a combined $10 million into an advertising blitz against Maine Sen. Susan Collins in the final week of a nationally targeted race with House Speaker Sara Gideon that has smashed state spending records.

The ad reservations of roughly $6 million from Senate Majority PAC and $4 million from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are notable because they come late in the race, but they will only be a small part of the total picture in a campaign that has seen some $170 million in spending by the candidates and outside groups during this cycle.

Gideon has narrowly outperformed Collins in public polling this year, but the fourth-term incumbent still looks to have a fighting chance even as the Democratic challenger benefits from an unprecedented wave of fundraising momentum for her party’s candidates across the country. The Maine race is among a handful of races that could determine control of the chamber.

The House speaker outraised Collins by 2.5 times as of mid-October. Not counting millions in dark-money ads against Collins early in the campaign, recorded outside spending has already crossed the $90 million mark, with Gideon benefiting from a slightly larger share of that and both parties waging war on the airwaves across Maine.

Read more: https://bangordailynews.com/2020/10/27/politics/groups-tied-to-top-senate-democrats-put-10m-into-final-ad-blitz-against-susan-collins/