WASHINGTON (AP) — A super PAC started by GOP strategist Karl Rove is airing television ads in Maine for the first time as it seeks to keep a U.S. Senate seat in Republican hands.

Crossroads GPS is spending $309,000 on the Maine campaign, part of a $5 million spending blitz targeting seven states.

The ad airing in Maine criticizes independent candidate Angus King as someone who supported tax increases as governor and helped turn a surplus into a nearly $1 billion shortfall. King served two terms as governor.

King is favored in a three-way race with Republican Charlie Summers and Democrat Cynthia Dill.

A spokeswoman for the King campaign, Crystal Canney, says the ad demonstrates that the group is afraid of King because it knows that no one owns his vote.