The brutal 2026 attack ads even rivals had to respect

The brutal 2026 attack ads even rivals had to respect

14 hours ago - Politics & Policy

The brutal 2026 attack ads even rivals had to respect

*Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Stock: Getty Images*

Top party strategists may hate seeing one of their candidates gutted by a brutal ad. But they can still admire the hit.

**Why it matters:** A record $11.6 billion has plastered political ads across screens of every size in the country during the 2026 midterms. Only a handful of those earned the grudging respect of operatives on both sides.

**📺 Zoom in:** Multiple Republican strategists singled out the "brutal" series of ads attacking Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kans.) over lawsuits against patients with overdue medical bills — some of whom were later arrested. Against the advice of his own team, Marshall released a self-directed ad answering the attacks.

* **In Nebraska**, an ad highlighting a past vote by former Gov. Pete Ricketts to pardon a man convicted of rape was singled out by both parties as one of the cycle's most damaging. Ricketts is expected to win re-election to the Senate.

* **In Maine,** an upbeat jingle hit Democratic nominee Troy Jackson for having children with his second cousin. "If he'll f\*\*k his own family, he'll f\*\*k yours too," the radio ad said (among other things). Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) called for the ad to be taken down.
* **And in Florida**, Rep. María Salazar (R-Fla.) turned on her own party leader, criticizing President Trump over ICE's aggressive enforcement tactics, saying some immigration policies had "gone too far."

**The intrigue**: Even hardened operatives are dealing with a new frontier: AI-generated attack ads that can make up scenarios and put words in an opponent's mouth.

* **In Michigan**, a Republican-aligned super PAC used AI-generated imagery to depict Democratic candidate Abdul El-Sayed in a fabricated family photo and playing a game with cards referencing "Death to America" and 9/11.
* **In Texas,** GOP Senate nominee Ken Paxton's team used AI to depict Democratic candidate James Talarico defacing a Bible with a crayon and saying: "In the beginning God was non-binary, and he wasn't a Christian. And God said, 'let there be six genders,' and there were."

**🤺 Between the lines:** An attack ad helped spark this weekend's blowup in the Michigan Senate race.

* **Rep. Haley Stevens'** (D-Mich.) shocking decision to withdraw support from El-Sayed grew out of their public dispute over an ad she called antisemitic.
* **El-Sayed ultimately disavowed** the ad but said Stevens wasn't welcome at his events, and she endorsed former Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.) on Sunday.

**The other side:** It's hard to imagine a bigger backfire than Vivek Ramaswamy's (R) ad featuring the estranged mother of his opponent for Ohio governor, Amy Acton (D).

* **It could prove fatal** for his gubernatorial bid, and Republicans worry it could hurt Sen. John Husted's (R) re-election chances too.
* **The ad sparked** immediate bipartisan backlash. Ramaswamy doubled down before pulling it off-air. One internal GOP poll had Acton's lead grow by 6 points after the ad ran.