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State Democratic chair files complaint against Blakeman over AI campaign ads

Jay Jacobs alleges the videos violate state election law.

Karina Kovac

Aug 11, 2026, 12:20 PM

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The chair of the New York State Democratic Committee has filed a complaint against Nassau County Executive and gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman over AI-generated campaign ads.

Jay Jacobs alleges the videos violate state election law.

The ads, which have been posted on the Blakeman for New York campaign's social media accounts, feature Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

Jacobs writes that these ads use Hochul's image to say and do things that she has not.

In the complaint, Jacobs cites a recently amended New York election law requiring political communications that contain "materially deceptive media" to include a warning notifying viewers that the content has been manipulated.

A recently posted video on Monday did not include a disclaimer.

News 12 reached out to Blakeman's campaign for a comment and they released the following statement:

“Kathy Hochul is so desperate to distract from her record of higher taxes and soaring utility bills that she’s begging Jay Jacobs to run interference. The facts about Hochul’s affordability crisis aren’t going away, no matter how hard they try to change the subject.”

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