Voting center file.
LAS VEGAS (KSNV) —With less than a week until Election Day in the 2026 midterm elections, political campaigns are ramping up their advertising efforts, using digital technology and artificial intelligence to reach voters and influence turnout.
Political consultant Matt Klink of Klink Campaigns says campaigns are increasingly relying on digital advertising to target specific audiences, tailor their messaging and produce advertisements.
“Campaigns use it to target; they use it to be much more specific to drill down on messaging. They’re using it to optimize ad bots, and are even using it now to produce ads,” Klink said.
For decades, campaigns have relied on traditional methods such as mailers, television commercials, phone calls and text messages to connect with voters. However, Klink says the growth of social media and digital platforms has changed how campaigns are delivering those messages.
“Within the last probably 5-8 years, we’ve really seen a proliferation of digital ads, and you can target down to the household with digital,” Klink said. “That is how much you can target, and you can serve up hundreds of different ads.”
As more people consume content on smartphones, tablets and computers, campaigns are also shifting their advertising strategies to meet voters where they spend their time.
“That is where the people are,” Klink said. “Fewer and fewer people are watching TV on actual television. They are watching TV on their phone, on their iPad, on their computer.”
Despite the shift toward digital platforms, Klink says traditional television advertising can still be an effective way to reach specific audiences. For example, Klink says advertisements that run during newscasts can reach viewers who are actively following current events.
Klink acknowledges that political advertising can be expensive, but says campaigns use a combination of available tools and strategies to maximize their reach before Election Day.
“If I started handshaking with people, I could reach more people in one day on television than I can in two months of handshaking,” Klink said.
Artificial intelligence is another tool campaigns are incorporating into their strategies. Klink says AI has been part of political campaigns for approximately four to five years, with applications ranging from developing advertisements to refining campaign messaging and targeting.
He compared the potential impact of AI to the internet’s influence on political campaigns two decades ago, saying emerging technology could fundamentally change how campaigns operate.
“Twenty years ago, we were talking about how the internet revolutionized political campaigns, and the political campaigns industry came out of it, and the public has more options available to them,” Klink said. “AI will do the same. It is just a profound change from the way campaigns have been run, but that is a good thing.”
Klink adds that campaigns will continue adapting as technology advances, and opponents develop new strategies.
“The successful campaigns in 2028 will take the lessons of 2026, and we don’t know what those lessons are all yet, and they will modify them,” Klink said. “The technology will increase and change. The targeting will only get better as time goes on.”
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