Republicans are decrying the Democratic challenger to Sen. Susan Collins for being a hypocrite.
Sara Gideon, currently Speaker of the state House of Representatives, has been attacking Collins for taking out-of-state donations, while Gideon has been raking in millions from far-left Democrats across the nation.
After 23 years of representing a state that is increasingly trending “blue,” Collins is now a top target for Democrats angry with her decisive vote last year to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Democrats also see Collins' seat as critical if they have any chance of winning control of the Senate in 2020.
If you turned on the television in Maine, you would think the 2020 election is just days away as the state is under a Democratic blitz, with negative ad after negative ad aimed at the independent-minded Collins.
Out-of-staters are playing a big role in funding these ads. George Soros and his two sons have personally targeted Collins, donating the maximum to Gideon.
Gideon says she relies on fundraising via telephone and Facebook, but has recently focused her fire on Republican Collins’ fundraising—claiming the senator accepts money from political action committees (PACs) and has raised considerable sums from out-of-state.
But a careful scrutiny of Gideon’s latest fundraising figures shows that $1,359,746.87 — or 81.47 percent of all she has raised so far — comes from out-of-state donors.
In raising that amount, California was her top state for fundraising with 20 percent of the total. New York came in third with 17 percent of the total.
Meanwhile, Gideon has received more than $210,000 from PACs since launching her campaign.
Another group, Maine Momentum, a 501c(4) organization with a stated mission devoted exclusively to social welfare, has sought to cloak all of the out-of-state interest.
In the last few months, Maine Momentum has spent an estimated $1 million on TV spots attacking votes by Sen. Collins for her support of the Trump tax cut bill.
Last month, a conservative group known as the Foundation for Accountability for Civic Trust (FACT) requested the IRS to investigate Maine Momentum for violating its tax exempt status by a “consistent pattern of activities” focused against Collins.
The ties between the allegedly non-partisan Maine Momentum and the Democratic campaign to unseat Collins are quite strong.
One of the organization’s top operatives is Chris Glynn, one-time spokesperson for front-running Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Sara Gideon.
We’re still in the first inning in Maine and the race is boiling. Newsmax will be watching this race closely.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
Editors’ Note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Donald Sussman founded Maine Momentum. Sussman’s representative has informed Newsmax that Sussman does not have anything to do with Maine Momentum and has not contributed to the group.
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