Maine U.S. Senate contender Graham Platner announced plans Sunday for $250,000 in TV ads “even though we don’t have the money.”
Platner, competing against term-limited Gov. Janet Mills for the Democrat nomination, claims he has no choice if he’s going to “unseat an entrenched politician like Susan Collins and take back the Senate.”
Republican Collins, in her fifth term, has yet to actually announce for a sixth term.
But Platner says he’s assuming she will be the GOP nominee since “Republican super PACs have already spent millions of dollars on TV ads supporting Collins.”
“We’ll only be able to win if we can counter their lies and match them on the air,” he says in a Facebook post. “That’s why I just made one of the most difficult decisions of this campaign yet: I told my team that we could begin airing our own TV ads, even though we don’t technically have all of the money in our budget to do so just yet.”
“We’re taking this risk because we frankly have no other choice,” he added. “Defeating Collins and flipping Maine blue is paramount if we’re going to fight back against fascism and protect our democracy.
“So I made the decision and took the bet that people like you would come through and donate to help us fill our $250,000 budget gap.”
Simultaneously, Platner put out a separate plea for $1 donations, reporting the campaign is “short of our $100,000 fundraising goal.”
Despite claiming now to be short on money, Platner reported ending the quarter with $3.7 million cash on hand.
He raised $4.6 million in the last quarter, far outpacing Mills, who took in $2.7 million.
Platner’s planned TV blitz come a week after Mills put up the first TV ad of her campaign.
The 30-second spot features clips of ICE officers arresting illegal aliens, though Mills’ claim is they exceeded their authority.
“We will not be intimidated,” she says in the ad. “We will not be silenced. I will defend you with everything I have.”
Mills accused Collins of cowardly failing to prevent ICE’s alleged overreach.
In response, Collins said she would continue to work with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to end illegal immigration, drug smuggling and other transnational criminal activity, despite the recent end to ICE’s increased activity in Maine.
The Collins campaign reported more than $8 million cash on hand at the start of the year, having raised $2.2 million in the last quarter.
Platner reported $3.7 million in the campaign account, and Mills $1.3 million.
