A Maine laundromat owner who has backed Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) for years says she was tricked into starring in a political ad for the Republican’s Democrat opponent.
Kelly Kusnirak, a longtime GOP voter who runs a laundromat in the Scarborough area, told The Maine Wire she was blindsided when her face popped up in a streaming ad boosting Democrat Troy Jackson.
“No, absolutely not. I am not a Troy Jackson supporter at all,” Kusnirak said. “I definitely feel like I was misled because when I did finally see the ad, I was like, oh, wow, look at that banner: Troy Jackson.”
“I feel like I was duped,” Kusnirak added.
Kusnirak said a videographer showed up at her shop last spring and told her that she was shooting footage for the Collins campaign. As a Collins fan, she agreed to sit for the camera.
“I was surprised to see that it was for Troy Jackson. Totally did not expect that. I thought it was going to be for Susan Collins,” she said. “If they’re willing to mislead me, how far will they go? And, you know, when will it end?”
Months later, the clip turned up in a spot paid for by CFFE PAC, the political arm of the D.C.-based Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy. The ad’s disclaimer says it was not authorized by any candidate.
In the ad, Kusnirak, identified on screen as “Kelly, South Portland, ME,” sits in front of a row of washers and dryers and complains about Maine’s cost of living. “Rent is not affordable. Buying a house is not affordable,” she says. An on-screen overlay then blames Collins for rising prices, and the ad cuts to Jackson at a podium urging voters to back him in November.
Kusnirak says the ad blamed the wrong person. She put the blame on Democrats in the State House, where Jackson spent six years as Senate president.
“The economic problems we have in Maine right now are pretty much the result of our legislature in Augusta that has been in control for the past eight years,” she said. “Susan Collins works on the national level, but she always puts Maine first when she makes decisions that affect Maine.”
She added that Collins “does more for Mainers economically on certain issues than the legislature in Augusta has done for any Mainer when it comes to affordability.”
Jackson was not even the Democrat nominee when the footage was shot. He replaced Graham Platner, who dropped out of the race amid sexual assault allegations. A small party convention of a few hundred insiders then picked Jackson. The Robinson Report, which first reported Kusnirak’s story, also brought up reports that Jackson fathered two children with his second cousin.
The PAC behind the ad has plenty of money. It reported $5.32 million in outside spending this cycle, including $647,793 backing Jackson and $829,688 for Sherrod Brown in Ohio. Its biggest donor is Pivotal Ventures, Melinda French Gates’ investment and philanthropy firm, which gave $2 million.
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