Ken Paxton Uses AI-Generated Ad to Attack James Talarico in Texas Senate Race

Ken Paxton Deploys AI-Generated Ad Against James Talarico

Ken Paxton's campaign released a 30-second AI-generated ad on September 8 that digitally manipulates James Talarico's likeness to deliver a series of fabricated statements about Christianity2

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. The video features an AI-generated version of the Texas Democratic Senate candidate sitting with a book labeled "The King James Talarico Bible," appearing to write with a yellow crayon before reading aloud. The digital likeness makes statements like "In the beginning, God was nonbinary" and "let there be six genders," combining fabricated lines with some of Talarico's actual past comments on faith and gender2

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. A disclaimer at the bottom notes that "certain video content depicted in this advertising was generated by artificial intelligence"2

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Talarico Condemns Political Misinformation Tactic

James Talarico responded forcefully to the AI in political campaigns, telling CBS News that Ken Paxton is "lying to the people of Texas" and puts words in my mouth1

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. "When you look at this ad, they are using AI in order to mislead the people of this state, and that is completely consistent with a liar like Ken Paxton," Talarico stated in a Wednesday interview1

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. When pressed on whether the ad represented statements he'd previously made, Talarico replied, "Not all of those statements"1

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. The Democratic candidate pledged he would not use AI in his own political advertising, adding that "every ad that we put out is made by human beings, and we're very proud of that fact"1

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Past Comments and Regrets Surface in Texas Senate Race

While the AI-generated ad contains fabricated content, it draws on several real comments Talarico has made about Christianity. The progressive Christian platform candidate has previously described himself as a "Christian who hates Christianity" and called Jesus a "radical feminist"2

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. In 2021, while speaking against legislation regulating transgender students' participation in school sports, Talarico said, "God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is nonbinary," citing Hebrew words used for God in Genesis2

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. Talarico has since acknowledged that some of his past remarks were intentionally provocative and have "missed the mark"2

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. In a May CBS News interview, he said, "I think I was being intentionally provocative with that statement," while accusing Paxton of using his comments to distract from Paxton's own corruption record2

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Paxton's Impeachment History Becomes Campaign Issue

Talarico argued that Paxton's misinformation tactic is consistent with his "record of lying to the people of Texas," pointing to Paxton's impeachment history1

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. The Texas attorney general was impeached by the state House in 2023 on accusations of bribery, obstruction of justice and abuse of the public trust1

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. Talarico also cited a recent endorsement from Paxton's former director of law enforcement, who appeared in an ad supporting Talarico1

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. "I am confident that Democrats, independents and Republicans are going to reject Ken Paxton because we don't want a criminal representing us in the halls of power in Washington," Talarico declared1

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High-Stakes Battle as Cook Political Report Shifts Rating to Toss-Up

The Texas Senate race between Paxton and Talarico is emerging as one of the country's most closely watched contests and is expected to be among the most expensive in history1

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. Paxton won the GOP nomination after defeating incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a May runoff, ending Cornyn's representation of Texas since 20021

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. The nonpartisan Cook Political Report shifted its rating from likely Republican to leaning Republican after Paxton's primary victory, then moved it to toss-up in August1

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. An August 27 Texas Public Opinion Research poll showed Talarico leading Paxton 48% to 42%, the only August poll showing either candidate ahead by more than its 3.3-point margin of error2

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. MAGA Inc., the political group aligned with President Donald Trump, recently committed at least $10 million to support Paxton's campaign tactics2

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. Democrats hope to flip four seats to take Senate majority, with Texas as a potential breakthrough after not electing a Democrat to the Senate since 19881

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