Political campaigns across the country are deploying AI-generated deepfakes to place candidates in fabricated and often demeaning situations, with virtually no regulatory safeguards to protect voters from misinformation or candidates from digital manipulation, according to a report from Axios.
The practice has become widespread in the 2026 elections, warping the norms of political campaigns and blurring the line between truth and fiction. While some campaigns voluntarily disclose their use of artificial intelligence, no federal requirement exists to inform voters when they are viewing manipulated content. Democrats have signaled their intent to address this regulatory gap if they retake control of Congress in November.
Targeting Candidates With Fabricated Content
Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico has emerged as a frequent target of AI-generated attack ads. A recent spot from Citizens for Sanity, a group aligned with President Trump, depicts Talarico in a dress singing an abridged version of "Favorite Things" about transgender children—an entirely fabricated scenario designed to mislead voters about the candidate's positions and character.
This is not the first time Talarico has been subjected to deepfake manipulation. In March, the National Republican Senatorial Committee used AI to show Talarico reciting past social media posts. While the posts themselves were real, the video of Talarico reading them was completely artificial.
The Texas Senate race has become a hotbed of AI use, with Republicans John Cornyn and Ken Paxton and Democrat Jasmine Crockett all deploying the technology to varying degrees during the primaries.
A Nationwide Phenomenon
The problem extends well beyond Texas. In Kentucky's 4th district GOP primary, deepfake technology was used extensively by both sides. One particularly egregious example was a "throuple" ad featuring fabricated images of Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., dining, checking into a hotel, and holding hands with Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Pro-Massie advertisements responded with their own AI-generated content, including depictions of an elephant with Trump-like hair and a MAGA cap, and images of his challenger Ed Gallrein abandoning Trump in a foxhole.
In Georgia's gubernatorial race, candidate Brad Raffensperger used AI in multiple ads to show his GOP primary opponents wildly shooting guns in the air and fighting each other with pugil sticks. Another Georgia gubernatorial candidate, Burt Jones, released an entirely AI-generated ad depicting his GOP primary runoff opponent Rick Jackson shoveling money into a furnace and inflating a hot air balloon with his breath.
Both Parties Embrace the Technology
While Republicans have deployed some of the most aggressive deepfake attack ads, Democrats have also embraced AI technology in their campaigns. In Texas, Crockett used AI to inflate crowd sizes in one of her advertisements and posted an AI video to social media showing herself, Trump, and others as babies. In New York City, Democrat-turned-independent Andrew Cuomo used AI in the mayoral election to portray himself performing various jobs, including subway conductor, stockbroker, stagehand, and window washer. In Maryland, Democrat Harry Dunn included a brief shot of AI-generated men in suits labeled "Crypto" and "AIPAC" tossing golden basketballs into a carnival free-throw game in a new ad for the 5th congressional district race.
Why This Matters:
The unregulated proliferation of deepfake technology in political campaigns threatens the foundation of informed democratic participation. Voters have a right to know when they are viewing manipulated content, yet no federal law currently requires disclosure. The technology's ability to place candidates in entirely fabricated scenarios—from wearing clothing they never wore to saying words they never spoke—creates a dangerous environment where truth becomes increasingly difficult to discern. Without regulatory intervention, the 2026 elections may mark a turning point where digital manipulation becomes the norm rather than the exception, eroding public trust in democratic institutions and making it nearly impossible for voters to make decisions based on factual information about candidates and their actual positions.