A 60-second countdown hovers over a tree with a signpost reading “Tax” above a fiery bullseye. Birds chirp over wind gusts and a steady drumbeat with the state capitol as a backdrop. At the base of the tree sits a bag marked “Tax Waste” with a label reading “For Illegals,” and across a path to the left stands a flannel-shirted axe-wielding cartoon Bobby Charles.
Swipe your finger or cursor to the right and the Republican gubernatorial candidate hurls an endless cache of axes toward his target, in an artificial intelligence-generated online game created by his campaign.
An interactive way to engage voters with Charles’ platform of cutting taxes, crime and progressive policies, the tongue-in-cheek game comes as campaigns are ramping up their use of AI tools to save time and cash as they try to reach and persuade voters in a pivotal election year.
Voters across Maine should be on the lookout for more AI-generated photos, videos, games and automated outreach efforts as November approaches. Campaigns in both parties and political experts saying the technology could reshape politics — for better or worse — the way social media did almost 20 years ago.
“It opens a lot of doors on the creative side now,” said Harry Burke, campaign manager for State Auditor Matt Dunlap, a Democrat running for Maine’s 2nd Congressional District. “I don’t have to go to another consultant or developer and take weeks at a time. It really is like having another staff member on the team.”
It took Dunlap’s team less than a week tinkering with Anthropic’s large language model Claude to build a retro-style interactive site targeting the Florida ties of Republican 2nd District candidate former Gov. Paul LePage, in a play on “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” A spokesperson for LePage told the Portland Press Herald the site marked an example of “Democrat political consultants trying to make a name for themselves.”
But several campaigns across the political spectrum said such AI tools help them keep any given issue fresh in voters’ minds.
For Charles, the focus is on exposing “Augusta insiders,” with tech helping “with graphics, research and voter contact,” spokesperson Vincent Harris said.
On top of photos and amusing videos shared over social media, campaigns are tapping into Claude, ChatGPT, Grok and other tools for first drafts or proofreading of statements and policy platforms. Many said they’re careful to double- or triple-check AI-driven research for accuracy.
Kaitlin LaCasse, a spokesperson for independent gubernatorial candidate Rick Bennett, said AI has helped the campaign listen to and engage with Mainers, “mostly by aggregating and synthesizing data from multiple sources.”
“When stakeholders weigh in on certain issues, like making housing more affordable, AI can help us find patterns and commonalities,” she said. “It saves time, but as we all know, any output must be double-checked.”
Mark Brewer, who chairs the political science department at the University of Maine, said campaigns have long been “research-heavy” — digging into the opposition, policies and voter outreach. AI can not only help customize outreach to specific segments of voters, but it can handle some of the labor-intensive research while campaigns “devote their human labor in other directions,” he said.
“Campaigns now have to generate content continuously,” he said. “People sometimes have a knee-jerk reaction that every politician is trying to manipulate. That’s not necessarily true — they’re often trying to educate and you can use AI to generate content that’s engaging and educating, so [voters] are better equipped to make decisions.”
Brewer warned, however, that as the campaign season heats up, the rapidly-changing AI landscape may leave many voters unclear about what’s real and what’s not. Voters should be on the alert for doctored images, deepfakes and more subtle forms of disinformation used “to raise doubts in voters’ minds,” he said.
While both major parties and independents rely on AI tools used daily by many Americans, the Republican Party appears more willing to dive into such tech and talk openly about it. Multiple Democratic campaigns and the Maine Democratic Party declined to discuss or confirm any AI strategies.
“We use it across several areas, primarily data and analysis along with some creative,” Jason Savage, executive director of the Maine GOP, said. “Much of what we use AI for relates to efficiency.”
He added that the party is “fairly sophisticated” in using AI in polling and analytics, as it was already using it two cycles ago.
The Maine GOP paid OpenAI directly six times across July and December, totaling almost $800 in subscription costs, according to campaign finance records. It is the only Maine committee with a direct, confirmed ChatGPT subscription.
Democrat Graham Platner, the Sullivan oyster farmer and military veteran leading Gov. Janet Mills in a battle to face five-term Republican Sen. Susan Collins, has used AI to boost fundraising.
Platner’s camp spent almost $6,000 from September through December on Calltime.AI, a call platform that helps prep callers with donor histories and talking points.
Not everyone is on board.
Collins’ campaign spokesperson said Friday that the team hasn’t integrated AI into the senator’s re-election bid.
David Costello, the third Democrat in the U.S. Senate primary and former Maine and Maryland government official, said his campaign isn’t relying on AI.
“In the political realm and elsewhere, we need to establish strong guardrails to mitigate misuse,” he said.
Former state House Speaker Hannah Pingree, one of a handful of Democratic candidates seeking to replace the outgoing Mills, agrees.
“In an online world filled with more and more AI video misinformation used in elections communications, the [Pingree] campaign is prioritizing ingenuity, creativity and authenticity,” spokesperson Mary-Erin Casale said. She cited a series of informational videos shared over social “produced and filmed in-house.”
While the campaign is using the “most innovative tools available to streamline processes” around data processing, it’s “never at the expense of quality or as a substitute to connect with Maine voters,” Casale said.
