AI in Campaigns: Tell Us What You're Seeing
Help us map how the technology is actually being used before the midterms get here
I’ve spent the last few years watching the political world have two conversations about AI that have almost nothing to do with each other.
One is the panic conversation: deepfakes, voter manipulation, the end of trust in everything. The other is the hype conversation: AI is going to revolutionize organizing, fundraising, direct voter contact, all of it.
Both conversations are real. Neither one is complete. And the thing that’s missing from both is pretty basic: what are campaigns actually doing with these tools right now?
That’s what we’re trying to find out.
I’ve teamed up with three newsletters I respect — Amanda Elliott (Doomscroll), Kyle Tharp (Chaotic Era), and Eric Wilson (Campaign Trend) — to build on the excellent foundational work the Association of Political Consultants has already done on how their members use AI, and go a layer deeper directly with campaigns and political organizations. These three are what campaigns actually read. They pay close attention to the tactics, the strategy, and what’s shifting cycle to cycle — on both sides of the aisle. They’re the right partners not just to get this survey in front of the right people, but to help make sense of what comes back.
It takes about 5 minutes. Anonymous by default. If you want to go deeper and share more about what you’re seeing, there’s an optional field at the end to leave your contact info — we’d love to talk.
The survey stays open through May 22.
Why this matters going into 2026 and 2028:
AI isn’t going to change campaigns automatically, in either direction. The tools exist. What happens next depends on how campaigns choose to use them — and on whether the companies building these tools pay attention to what the political environment actually requires.
Campaigns will try to influence how AI models respond to prompts about candidates and voting. Platforms will be figuring out how their AI products handle political queries. And staffers will be under pressure to integrate these tools faster than anyone has had time to think through what that means for voters.
We want to tell the more nuanced version of this story — the one where AI genuinely helps voters get better information and campaigns run more efficiently — but we’re also eyes wide open about the technology’s negative effects, and we’re trying to chart a better path forward because people thought carefully about the trade-offs.
To tell that story, we need data. And you’re the ones who have it.
If you’re working in campaigns, political consulting, digital strategy, data, or anywhere adjacent — this is for you.
👉 Take the survey · Anonymous · Open through May 22