AUGUSTA – For three weeks, Republican Les Fossel of Alna was tangled in a contentious recount against Democrat Chris Hall of Bristol for a key state Senate seat.

But Wednesday, Fossel was on his political opponent’s side as he told the state Ethics Commission that Hall had been smeared by campaign brochures mailed by a Republican political action committee, Maine Unlimited, over which Fossel has no control.

The commission took no action, saying no law had been violated.

Although the brochures were supposed to help Fossel’s campaign, Fossel and others said they were outraged by the content.

The slick color brochures showed a graphic of Prince Charles and the British flag and attributed to Hall statements implying that adultery is OK. “It may be fine over there … ” the brochures said, “But it is not right here.”

Hall is a British native who has lived in the United States for three decades.

The Ethics Commission said it would be up to the Legislature to address negative campaigning.

“There’s a constitutional right to free speech, so groups that want to say something about a candidate … are pretty much free to say that,” said Ethics Commissioner Andrew Ketterer, a former Maine attorney general. “They just have to disclose who they are.”

Democratic legislators have said they plan to submit bills during the next two-year session to crack down on negative campaigning, which some politicians said was worse during the fall campaign than they’ve ever seen.