The Maine Republican Party came up with a creative way to attack Democratic State Senate Candidate Colleen Lachowicz. They sent out a mailer savaging her for her scary-looking World of Warcraft character, and for online comments touting the violent acts that character committed.

"I love poisoning and stabbing! It is fun," the flyer quoted Lachowicz as saying. The GOP operatives who put together the flyer evidently didn't appreciate the difference between fantasy and reality. Or perhaps they hoped Maine voters wouldn't know the difference.

But while the flyer was creative, Techdirt notes it wasn't very effective. Lachowicz has defeated Thomas Martin, the Republican incumbent, to represent Maine's 25th Senate district. She received 52.8 percent of the votes in her district, about 900 votes more than her opponent.

The Bangor Daily News reports the attacks on Lachowicz's gaming generated an outpouring of support from around the world. Supporters raised $6300 to promote her candidacy. Because Lachowicz accepted public funds under Maine's "clean elections" law, she wasn't legally permitted to accept the money herself. So the money was donated to an independent Political Action Committee.

Opponents argued this violated Maine elections law. But the Maine Ethics Commission cleared her of wrongdoing on November 1. By a 5-0 vote, they ruled that because she didn't coordinate her campaign with the activities of the PAC supporting her, she was in the clear.