Oklahoma is one of roughly 19 states without rules governing AI-generated political ads, and a wave of deepfake attack ads in the state's gubernatorial primary has pushed the Oklahoma Ethics Commission to consider new regulations. The commission oversees campaign finance and ethics rules in the state, but any new rules would require approval from lawmakers - a step that has so far stalled despite growing pressure from both parties.
During the June Republican primary, the PAC Make Oklahoma Great Again spent $3.8 million on independent expenditures, including ads that used AI-generated deepfakes of candidates. One ad depicted a manipulated version of a 2016 Hillary Clinton debate scene, then transitioned to fake footage of candidate Mike Mazzei hugging Clinton while a narrator called him a "Clinton lover, Trump hater." Another targeted then-candidate Charles McCall with the nickname "Banana Chuck," showing a deepfake of him with a banana in his pocket.
Oklahoma Ethics Commission Executive Director Lee Anne Bruce Boone said the group noticed the issue several months ago when AI-generated mailers targeting four officeholders reached voters. "We want to be looking forward and thinking about things that might be impacting our purview, our jurisdiction, and artificial intelligence is certainly one of those," she said.
What the commission can do - and what it can't
Current Oklahoma ethics rules predate the generative AI era. "Our existing rules, of course, didn't anticipate the use of AI," Bruce Boone said. "The bulk of them came over ten years ago." She added that regulation involves First Amendment considerations. "In terms of, if anyone were to try to regulate content, I don't think that's the intent of the commission at this point," she said.
Most of the 32 states that have regulated AI-generated campaign deepfakes have chosen disclosure requirements rather than outright bans, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Maryland has fully prohibited AI-produced political ads; Tennessee requires labels on deepfakes impersonating candidates. All attached civil or criminal penalties.
In Oklahoma, ethics rules and election laws can arrive through two channels: the Ethics Commission can draft new rules through a public process, which lawmakers must approve, or the legislature can write a law directly. Both routes converge on the same decision point.
Republicans and Democrats aren't far apart
Rep. Jim Olsen, a Republican from Roland who chairs the House Elections and Ethics Committee, said he'd start with disclosures and consider prohibition later. "That is not necessarily an either/or," he said. "Eventually have both."
The question, he said, is the legality given First Amendment protections. "The elephant in the room is what are the courts going to say? It's our job to legislate, and it's the court's job to take that next step if it's challenged."
Senate Democratic Minority Leader Julia Kirt said her caucus supports AI regulation but worries about enforcement capacity. "If we slap on new regulations, but we don't give them the capacity to follow up on that," she said, pointing to the ethics commission's resources as the weak link.
Governor Kevin Stitt, who's nearing the end of his term, said it's needed# "We need to have some kind of regulation, especially around political campaigns," despite the fact he agreed with Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on the issue during his final NGA meeting. Moore said the public is vulnerable to the distortions: "People are very susceptible to these types of manipulations."
The governor's race has made it a campaign issue
The runoff election to replace Stitt has put AI ads directly in front of voters. Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who has faced attack ads funded by opposition groups, said in a debate that as governor he would "pass federal legislation that bans the manipulation of AI," adding that "voters need to see the authentic person on the stage in their ads." Mazzei, his runoff opponent, said the election deserves "dealing with the facts."
The state's Republican Gubernatorial primary runoff takes place August 25. The winner faces Democrat Cyndi Munson and three independents in the November general election.
The Ethics Commission is still in the process of writing new language. Bruce Boone said the commission needs time to hear public comment and reach agreement. "One commissioner may want to be more strict than others," justifying rule variations, "we may not get agreement." Still, said, a commission-established rule is only one path; lawmakers can act independently.
Why this matters for people in PR and communications
For communications professionals, the takeaway is that "deepfakes" and generative AI in political advertising affect every message you send into the public sphere. In Oklahoma and other states with emerging regulations, verifiability of your materials is the baseline task: if you work on anything touching current affairs, public policy, or even corporate buying power-know whether your state requires disclosure labels or outright disclaimers on AI-assisted content, and keep records of what your team produced and how. The same laws being debated for campaigns will likely guide how regulators treat any AI-generated content in news releases, corporate communications, or grassroots advocacy. Getting removing any branded verification might still be possible, but in states like Malden and Tennessee, if you can't clearly attribute what you produce, you will be on the wrong side of a disclosure rule before you finish sending your next statement.
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