SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine — A southern Maine laundromat owner who supports Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins says she was misled into appearing in a political ad backing Collins' Democratic challenger, Troy Jackson, according to a report published Thursday by the Robinson Report.

Kelly Kusnirak, a longtime Republican, told the Robinson Report that a videographer approached her around March or April and said he was filming for the Collins campaign. She agreed to take part, she said, because she supports Collins.

"I feel like I was duped," Kusnirak said, according to the report. She said she learned the footage had been used for Jackson when a friend saw the ad.

The ad

The digital and streaming ad carries the disclaimers "Paid for by CFFE PAC" and "Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee," according to the Robinson Report. CFFE PAC, the Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy, is a progressive group whose executive director is Sondra Goldschein.

In the ad, Kusnirak sits at a table in front of rows of washers and dryers and is identified on screen as "Kelly, South Portland, ME." She talks about rent, the cost of buying a home, wages and jobs in Maine. On-screen text attributed to the Center for American Progress Action says costs are rising and that Collins is making things worse, and the ad then cuts to Jackson at a podium saying Collins is too expensive for Maine.

The filming took place before Jackson became the Democratic nominee. Maine Democrats picked Jackson at a party convention after Graham Platner withdrew from the race, according to the report.

Response video

Kusnirak has since appeared in a video filmed at the same laundromat that ends with a "Paid for by Collins for Senator" disclaimer. In it, she says she is "not a Troy Jackson supporter at all" and that she plans to vote for Collins, according to the Robinson Report. She blamed Maine's economic problems on Democratic control of the Legislature in Augusta and called the tactic used to recruit her "dirty tricks."

The Robinson Report did not identify the videographer or include responses from the Jackson campaign or CFFE PAC.