Democrats launch AI playbook to combat GOP’s $1.2M tech use advantage

The National Democratic Training Committee has released the first official AI playbook for Democratic campaigns, offering guidance on responsible artificial intelligence use ahead of the 2026 midterms. The comprehensive training program targets smaller campaigns with limited resources, aiming to help five-person teams operate with the efficiency of 15-person teams while maintaining ethical standards and transparency.

What you should know: The three-part training course covers AI fundamentals and practical applications for campaign operations.

• Democrats can use AI to create social media content, write voter outreach messages, draft speeches, develop phonebanking scripts, and research districts and opponents.
• All AI-generated content must be reviewed by humans before publication.
• The training specifically prohibits using AI to create deepfakes of opponents, impersonate real people, or generate deceptive images and videos.

Why this matters: Democratic strategists argue AI adoption has become a competitive necessity rather than a luxury in modern campaigns.

• “AI and responsible AI adoption is a competitive necessity. It’s not a luxury,” says Donald Riddle, senior instructional designer at the National Democratic Training Committee.
• The training suggests Democrats are falling behind Republicans, who have already integrated AI across multiple campaign functions.

Transparency requirements: The playbook emphasizes disclosure when AI significantly contributes to campaign content.

• Campaigns should reveal AI use when content features AI-generated voices, appears “deeply personal,” or develops complex policy positions.
• “When AI significantly contributes to policy development, transparency builds trust,” the training states.
• UC Berkeley professor Hany Farid notes that transparency serves a dual purpose: “You need to have transparency when something is not real or when something has been wholly AI generated, but it’s also so that we trust what is real.”

The competitive landscape: Republicans demonstrated more aggressive AI integration during the 2024 election cycle.

• GOP groups supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis published campaign ads featuring AI-generated planes and fake audio of Trump.
• Trump shared a deepfaked image of Taylor Swift endorsing his candidacy weeks before the election.
• Republicans spent more than $1.2 million on Campaign Nucleus and its AI tools alone, according to Bloomberg Government.

What they’re saying: Democratic leaders frame AI training as essential for electoral success.

• “Our approach focuses on turning fear into a force multiplier—thousands of Democratic campaigns can now leverage AI to compete at any scale, everywhere,” says Kelly Dietrich, the National Democratic Training Committee’s founder and CEO.
• Kate Gage of the Higher Ground Institute emphasizes the need for deeper integration: “We need some campaigns to really invest in it and try it. We have yet to see Democratic campaigns where it’s integrated at every level.”

Key details: The National Democratic Training Committee has trained more than 120,000 Democrats seeking political office since its 2016 founding.

• The free AI course was developed in collaboration with the Higher Ground Institute, the nonprofit arm of progressive tech incubator Higher Ground Labs.
• For video content, the training recommends tools like Descript or Opus Clip to edit social media content and remove awkward moments.
• The training will be updated regularly as new AI tools and use cases emerge.