Hours after accusing Gov. Wes Moore of trying to influence Maryland’s Republican gubernatorial primary through campaign ads and mailers, Republican candidate Ed Hale posted an AI-altered image on social media that may violate the state’s new law against deceptive election-related deepfakes.

The post featured an AI-generated image of Moore embracing Hale’s primary opponent, former Del. Dan Cox, alongside a New York Times headline suggesting Democrats were helping Cox’s campaign.

It was shared after Hale argued that Moore is attempting to influence the Republican primary because the governor views Cox as an easier general-election opponent.

“He knows I’ll hold him accountable for the deficits, the tax hikes, and a lifetime of lies he’s never had to answer for. Republicans choose their own nominee. Not Wes Moore,” Hale said in the post with the AI image on X. His campaign also posted it on Facebook.

A new law that took effect in Maryland June 1 makes it a crime punishable by up to five years in prison or a $5,000 fine to knowingly distribute deceptive AI-generated election content intended to influence voters through “election misinformation or election disinformation.”

Andrew Brightwell, a spokesperson for Hale’s campaign, disputed that the image was a deepfake, saying in a phone interview with The Baltimore Sun that this “law is a bunch of [expletive].

“If Wes Moore or Dan Cox has such a problem with a meme, they can sue me directly and try to fight the First Amendment of the Constitution,” Brightwell later wrote in a text message to The Sun.

The law defines “deepfake” as “an image, an audio recording, or a video recording that has been intentionally created or manipulated with the use of generative artificial intelligence or other digital technology to create a realistic but false depiction of a person that an ordinary person would conclude is an actual visual or audio representation of the person depicted.”

“The use of artificial intelligence to mislead, disinform, and influence Maryland elections is disgusting and should be stopped,” said Maryland Democratic Party Executive Director Karen Darkes. “These hyper-realistic, fabricated images of elected officials are only created to maliciously manipulate public opinion.”

Focus on Cox

The governor’s campaign has paid for television ads on Fox News describing Cox as “too conservative for Maryland.” The Maryland Democratic Party has also distributed mailers with the same message in Republican electoral strongholds, adding that Hale was a Democrat until he started running for governor.

Hale was a longtime Democratic donor and ally of former Gov. Martin O’Malley, and he switched party affiliation when he launched his Republican gubernatorial campaign.

Democrats and allied groups employed a similar strategy in 2022, spending money to highlight Cox during the Republican primary. Cox won the nomination before losing to Moore in the general election.

“This is, to me, so blatantly bad that the governor of our state is manipulating the election to get everybody out for Dan Cox, who he whipped badly by 32 points the last election, and he wants to do this very same thing again,” Hale told reporters at a news conference Wednesday in Rosedale.

Political analysts said Democratic messaging aimed at Cox could affect the dynamics of the Republican primary because those voters tend to be more conservative than the broader group of voters who participate in general elections. Winning by a wider margin could also strengthen Moore’s political profile nationally if he eventually pursues higher office, said Matthew Crenson, professor emeritus at Johns Hopkins University.

“This makes him even stronger,” Crenson said. “He may have ambitions beyond the governorship, and getting an overwhelming vote in this election may prepare him for even more ambitious goals. So the objective here is not simply to win this upcoming election.”

While Moore’s campaign did not directly address whether it is attempting to influence the Republican primary, officials said the governor is proactively preparing for the general election.

“We’re not going to take anything for granted, no matter who we’re running against,” Carter Elliott, Moore’s campaign spokesperson, said in a statement Wednesday. “Whoever wins the Republican primary will be met with the strongest coordinated campaign Maryland has ever seen, and we will work day and night to make sure in November that voters know what they stand for.”

John Dedie, a political science professor at the Community College of Baltimore County, said Cox could cost Republicans down-ballot elections as GOP voters prefer moderate candidates.

“If Cox is the nominee, [he] could drag down other Republicans and make it more difficult for them to win because a lot of [the moderate] Republicans running for delegate, county council, etc., they’re not going to show up at a Dan Cox event,” Dedie said. “But if Ed Hale is the nominee, it won’t drag the ticket down as much.”

The last day to vote early in Maryland is Thursday, and the primary election will be on June 23.

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