Republican Super PAC Turns Troy Jackson's Children With His Second Cousin Into a Country Song Attack Ad

A Republican super PAC backing Senator Susan Collins has set Democrat Troy Jackson's family life to music, airing a country song on Maine radio that calls him a 'freak' and a 'creep' because 'he has two kids with his cousin'.

The jingle, from the Senate Leadership Fund, includes the line: 'If he'll screw his own family, he'll screw yours too.' Collins has said she had nothing to do with it and wants it taken down.

Jackson's partner of nearly 40 years, Lana Pelletier, accused the senator and her allies of stooping 'this low' in a race that could decide control of the US Senate.

'If He'll Screw His Own Family'

The spot, set to a country tune, surfaced on Tuesday, 20 October 2026, and is airing on Maine radio, the Bangor Daily News reported. It is one of several attack ads the Senate Leadership Fund launched against Jackson over the weekend, including another that calls him a crook and a creep.

The song refers to Jackson as a 'freak' and a 'creep' because 'he has two kids with his cousin', the Associated Press reported. Among the lyrics: 'If he'll screw his own family, he'll screw yours too.'

The Senate Leadership Fund is a super PAC aligned with Senate Republican leaders. It and an offshoot are the biggest outside spenders in the race, with nearly £37 million ($50 million) in Maine advertising booked, according to AdImpact data cited by the Bangor Daily News.

A wider network of Republican super PACs and non-profit groups has booked about £94 million ($126 million) in advertising to re-elect Collins. On the Democratic side, the group WinSenate has booked about £29 million ($38.6 million). The figures refer to advertising booked, not necessarily money already spent.

Jackson and Pelletier have been together for nearly four decades and have two adult sons. The conservative outlet The Maine Wire first reported in July that the couple are second cousins who share great-grandparents, according to Newsweek. Jackson's financial disclosures list Pelletier as his spouse. The Maine Wire said it could not find a marriage licence, although that does not establish whether the couple are married.

Collins Denies Ties With the Ad

Speaking to reporters at a campaign stop in Lewiston on Wednesday, 21 October, Collins distanced herself from the song. She said she 'had nothing to do with that ad' and that federal law bars her from coordinating with the super PAC, but she has publicly called for it to be removed, the AP reported.

'This race is unique in Maine history in the number of personal attacks,' Collins said. Separately, in Farmington, she complained of 'nonstop lies about me and my record, character assassination', the Bangor Daily News reported.

Democrats point out that Collins raised the subject herself. In a Politico interview in September, she said: 'I'm not going to bring up the fact that the mother of his two children is his second cousin. I don't know whether people know that or not.' When pressed, she said it was not something her campaign planned to emphasise, according to Newsweek.

Jackson's deputy campaign manager, Dan Gottlieb, accused Collins of helping spread the attacks and said she owed the family an apology. 'Susan Collins herself spread these disgusting personal attacks on Troy's family,' he said. 'Now she wants Mainers to believe she's above the very attacks she helped spread.'

'I Am Not a Punchline'

Pelletier, a licensed clinical social worker from Allagash, hit back in an opinion piece in the Bangor Daily News. 'I never imagined US Sen. Susan Collins and her allies would stoop this low,' she wrote, Newsweek reported.

'Collins has brought our family into this campaign herself,' Pelletier wrote. 'She has ridiculed us publicly, invoked my children in debates and treated deeply personal parts of our lives as fair game for political attack.'

'Our relationship has been mocked. Our family has been talked about as though there is something shameful about who we are or where we come from,' she added.

'Sen. Collins has been quick to demand respect and decency for herself. My family deserved the same,' Pelletier wrote, according to the AP. 'I am not a helpless woman who needs politicians to tell the world what happened in my own life. And I am not a punchline or a caricature of where I come from.'

The ad is the latest personal attack in a bitter contest. In August, the Bangor Daily News reported on a 1988 police report concerning a fight at a Fort Kent home when Jackson was 19. According to the report, Jackson punched another man and later paid a fine. The report also attributed a statement to Pelletier that Jackson had 'pushed her around'. Pelletier has said she does not remember making that statement and that it is inaccurate.

The candidates have also clashed publicly. Jackson, a former state lawmaker and lumberjack, told Collins to 'shut up' during a heated debate, the AP has reported.

Jackson has held a narrow lead in recent polling, though many of his leads fall within the margin of error, according to Newsweek, which said the latest InsiderAdvantage poll put him two points ahead. The race remains competitive. Collins trailed in final polling averages in 2020 before beating Democrat Sara Gideon by nine points.

Mainers will decide on 3 November whether the attacks help Collins hold a seat Democrats see as key to retaking the Senate.