House Democrats Target 2027 AI Election Ad Bill
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- House Democrats plan to push legislation regulating AI in political ads if they retake power following the 2026 midterms, with the effort targeted at 2027, Axios has learned.
- Rep. Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.), the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee — which has jurisdiction over federal elections — told Axios that regulating AI on the campaign trail will "absolutely" be a priority and that he has already held conversations with the AI community about a bill requiring disclosure of AI use in political ads.
- A Kentucky 4th district ad used AI-generated videos to depict Rep. Thomas Massie in a "throuple" dining with Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar, while a separate ad used AI to show Massie rival Ed Gallrein fleeing a Trump rally and abandoning Trump in a WWII-style foxhole — both without apparent disclosure.
- The National Republican Senatorial Committee has used AI to create deepfake videos of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Texas state Rep. James Talarico reciting written comments, and a PAC backing Republican Jonathan Bush in Maine's gubernatorial race is running an ad consisting entirely of AI-generated deepfakes of GOP rival Robert Charles.
- Democrats have also deployed AI — a New York Democratic House candidate released an AI-generated video attacking Rep. Elise Stefanik last July, Rep. Jasmine Crockett was accused of using AI to enhance a crowd in a campaign ad, and unsuccessful Illinois candidate Jesse Jackson Jr. used AI to enhance the voice of endorser Bobby Rush, whose vocal cords were damaged by throat cancer.
- Campaigns are increasingly turning to AI as a cost-saving tool to produce ads, meaning that despite considerable criticism and public wariness, the technology is likely here to stay.
Why it matters: With AI-generated ads — many undisclosed — proliferating across both parties in 2026, the regulatory fight is migrating to Congress. Morelle's House Administration Committee has federal election jurisdiction, so a disclosure bill he authors would set nationwide standards for how campaigns label synthetic media. The bipartisan adoption documented in the piece, from deepfakes of Schumer to Crockett's crowd-shrinking, signals that any regulation will face pressure from incumbents on both sides who have already found the technology useful.
