Santa Barbara County Democrats are blowing up over an AI-generated political ad that targets a Latino candidate running for the county board of supervisors.
The ad, texted by the county’s Republican Party to voters, depicts Democrat-endorsed candidate Ricardo Valencia as a clown roaming the city of Santa Maria amid scenes of fire, homeless encampments and crime.
According to the Santa Barbara News-Press, there is a voiceover with a “stereotypical Latino accent” that accuses Valencia of failing to address key issues affecting voters.
Captured screenshots show, in one scene, Valencia in a red nose and clown makeup holding a phone as if recording a video selfie.
The AI-generated candidate is wearing a disheveled dress shirt and tie as a man steals a purse from an elderly woman nearby a Shell gas station.
Another shot of the ad shows Valencia in an even more ridiculous clown costume, with curly red hair and a more colorful clown suit. In the background is a long line of homeless individuals seemingly waiting for food.
Democrats bristled at the ad, accusing it of being “racist” and “deceptive.” State lawmakers representing the area, including California Senate President Monique Limon, condemned it.
“There is no place in our community for the use of racist caricatures, disinformation, or deceptive AI-generated content designed to inflame division and demean candidates based on their background or identity,” Limon and two other lawmakers said in a joint statement.
“Campaign and political parties should debate ideas, proposals and qualifications — not resort to hateful and misleading attacks that seek to divide neighbors against one another,” they added.
Local-level politicians also piled on. County supervisor Laura Capps said the attack ad “is both vile and unacceptable.” Santa Maria Councilwoman Gloria Soto said “this is not a campaign tactic, it is a racist caricature, and it is disgraceful.”
Bobbi McGinnis, chair of the county Republican Party, told the News-Press that the organization is not racist and was simply experimenting with AI content.
Valencia is currently facing off in the June 2 primary against Cory Bantilan, the chief of staff for current supervisor Steve Lavagnino, and Santa Maria City Councilmember Maribel Aguilera, whom Soto claims is being backed by the county GOP.
Valencia has been a high school teacher and serves on the Santa Maria-Bonita School Board.
In an Instagram story Sunday, he thanked Limon and others for their support and said the ad was “racist and dehumanizing.”
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