GOP set up deceptively named PACs to save the seats of embattled Senators Collins and Gardner: report

According to a report at the Daily Beast, the Republican Party is gearing up for a big struggle to hang onto control of the Senate in the 2020 election and are worried about two incumbent senators who look like they might be ousted.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) are looking at a struggle to hold their seats with Collins still reeling from her controversial vote to approve Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Gardner trying to distance himself from Donald Trump in a state where the president has tepid support.

With that in mind, Lachlan Markay of the Beast, said GOP operatives with close ties to the Republican National Committee, have created to two new super PACS for the express purpose of re-electing the two -- giving the PACs names that create the appearance that they are homegrown within the candidate's respective states.

According to the report, wealthy GOP donors are funneling money into Our Colorado PAC and The Maine Way PAC to boost the embattled GOP senators' chances out of fear that the potential loss of seats could put GOP majority in the Senate in peril.

"Both of their mailing addresses are rented mailboxes in their respective states. But both also show signs of involvement by national Republican groups with deeper pockets and a track record of setting up state-specific political outfits," the report states before noting that both PAC's " ...share the same treasurer, Benjamin Ottenhoff, the former chief financial officer of the Republican National Committee."

The report also points out that Illinois industrial supply magnate Richard Uihlein, who is backing Gardner, handed over a half-million-dollar check to Americas PAC earlier this year after being the "second most prolific GOP donor of the 2018 cycle, behind only casino mogul Sheldon Adelson."

You can read more here.