Conservative talk radio host Mark Kaye is defending the ethics of AI-generated campaign materials, arguing they give candidates with limited fundraising a fairer shot to compete against better-known incumbents.
“AI opens up something to candidates like me. I don’t have the $700,000 that John Rutherford does. A lot of candidates rely on lower-cost alternatives. For $20, $30, you can create full-blown campaign ads,” Kaye said during an interview with Anne Schindler on WJCT 89.9’s First Coast Connect.
Kaye has mounted a long-shot Primary challenge against five-term U.S. Rep. Rutherford, who has raised over $700,000 to defend his seat. By comparison, Kaye has raised just $27,000.
Schindler asked Kaye about an AI-generated campaign song his campaign has distributed on social media titled “Primary Day,” which features a video labeling Rutherford as a “RINO.” Kaye celebrated the music video’s success, claiming the song had reached the ninth spot on the iTunes new country music chart.
Kaye argued AI is simply a tool, and said he has no problem with its use as long as candidates don’t try to pass off AI-generated material as real images.
“When I’m playing a banjo, riding a jet ski with dolphins floating around me, I’m pretty sure people understand that’s an AI-generated image,” Kaye said.
In 2024, the BBC ran an article highlighting an AI-generated image Kaye posted depicting President Donald Trump posing with Black supporters. In Tuesday’s interview, Kaye brushed off the BBC story as “totally fabricated outrage,” and told Schindler “I was way ahead of my time.”
A talk radio host-turned-conservative podcaster, Kaye spent two decades on the air with Jacksonville radio stations WAPE 95.1 and WOKV 104.5.
The district includes half of Duval County and all of St. Johns County, and it re-elected Rutherford in 2024 with 63% of the vote. The GOP nominee will face the winner of a Democratic Primary featuring Rachel Grage, Alexander Hazen and Mark Heggestad.
