Washington, DC — Artificial intelligence is playing an unprecedented role in the 2026 midterms, with campaigns and political groups spending more than $137 million on advertisements created or enhanced using AI.
The Wesleyan Media Project has identified 220 AI-assisted political ads this cycle, compared with less than $50,000 in spending on such advertising during 2024. Researchers say the current total is almost certainly an undercount.
Republican candidates and aligned organizations produced 81% of the identified AI ads and accounted for 88% of the spending. Democratic sponsors produced about 12%.
Many advertisements create fictional scenes involving opposing candidates. One Republican ad depicts New York Gov. Kathy Hochul walking with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and saying, “don’t say affordable,” although Hochul never made the statement and the scene never occurred.
Only 27% of the AI-generated ads tracked by Wesleyan included a disclaimer alerting viewers to the technology’s use.
Democratic congressional candidate Rebecca Cooke has also demanded that Republican Rep. Derrick Van Orden stop distributing AI videos depicting her making fabricated statements about corruption.
The rapid spread of synthetic political advertising comes as federal regulation remains limited, leaving disclosure requirements largely dependent on state laws and individual platforms.
Recent polling indicates broad bipartisan concern about AI oversight, particularly when synthetic material can make politicians appear to say or do things that never happened.
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