Americans Elect, a Super PAC, began running ads in support of independent Senate candidate Angus King Friday.
Americans Elect was created in 2011 with the stated goal of re-imagining the primary system and providing a platform for a third party ticket to run for president, in reaction to what they saw as a disenchantment with two-party politics.
Americans Elect previously stated that it would not support candidates. In an op-ed in the Portland Press Herald in March, Eliot Cutler, a former* member of the board of directors of Americans Elect and now a State Chair for King’s campaign, specifically stated: “Nor does AE support or give money to any candidate or committee.”
The ad praises King for his rejection of partisanship.
“Here in Maine,” says a woman, “people aren’t looking for Democratic jobs or Republican jobs, we just need jobs.”
“But Washington’s response? More partisan gridlock,” says an announcer.
“We need jobs, not partisan politics,” says a man with a heavy Maine accent. “Angus can change that.”
“As governor, Angus brought business and government together to create jobs, and sought the best ideas from both parties,” says the announcer. “Maine values we need in Washington.”
“Angus is an independent so it’s not about party politics, it’s about putting Maine first,” says a second man.
The ad comes on the heels of an internal Republican poll that shows King’s once formidable lead diminished to a mere four points. The poll, conducted by GS Strategy Group for the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s independent expenditure arm, the Washington Post reported, has King at 37 percent and Summers at 33.5 percent. Democrat Cynthia Dill is at 17 percent. A Public Policy Polling poll from mid-September had King up by 8. A Rasmussen poll found him up by 12.
*Correction: The article previously stated that Cutler was a current board member of Americans Elect. He resigned in June.