Ken McKay’s super PAC slams Whitehouse in Pats game TV ad

WPRI.COM

Ted Nesi

Updated: Oct 28, 2012 10:32 PM

He’s back. Sort of.

Ken McKay, the former Republican National Committee official who briefly chaired the state GOP last year, is also the creator of People’s Majority, a super PAC created after the Citizens United decision that re-emerged this month – apparently to go after U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse.

People’s Majority attacked Whitehouse on Sunday with a new 30-second attack ad that aired on WPRI 12 during halftime of the Patriots-Rams game, one of the highest-rated broadcasts of the week. The commercial repeated disputed allegations of insider trading against Whitehouse, who had a big lead over Republican challenger Barry Hinckley as of last month.

Cabell Hobbs replaced McKay as the treasurer of People’s Majority at some point last year, Federal Election Commission filings show.

The super PAC’s website says its mission is to boost Republicans competing in “overlooked and underfunded Senate races throughout the United States.” The site says the group has identified three such races, but Whitehouse appears to be its only politician targeted in its materials.

Patrick Sweeney, who is now Hinckley’s campaign manager, was hired by McKay as the state GOP’s executive director after the two were initially opponents in the race to succeed Giovanni Cicione as chairman.

People’s Majority commissioned a poll earlier this month showing Hinckley just eight points behind Whitehouse, which was significantly closer than the findings of independent polls from WPRI 12 and Brown University. The new WPRI 12 poll will be released this week.

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