Gina Hinojosa, the Democrat trying to win the governor's mansion in Texas, confessed her love for the Wicked musical whilemixing a strawberry milk latte witheli.rallo (an influencer with 1.2 million TikTok followers). Peggy Flanagan, the Democrat trying to win a Senate seat in Minnesota, ran around the state fair withemmalinechilds (300,400 TikTok followers), wielding“pronto pups” — Midwestern corn dogs — and declaring it the “best day ever.” And Roy Cooper, the Democrat trying to win the Senate race in North Carolina, stood on the sidelines of a campaign rally to askmerenator (57,800 Instagram followers) what her biggest challenge is,teeing up a response about a shaky economy for small business owners. This is campaigning in the age of influencers. As political campaigns are waged more and more on the internet — a place where everyone seems driven by an insatiable hunger for attention — a debate is brewing about whether elections can be won or lost online. After Trump’s 2024 victory, Democrats are playing catch up by taking a page from the GOP playbook: Influencers are being deeply embedded into campaigns, from Florida to Alaska, and candidates are popping up on screen with them, on their turf. Developing an influencer program is now a common component of a campaign, mapped alongside traditional voter outreach methods like door-knocking and phone-banking. This approach isn’t without controversy. Within the Democratic Party there’s a raging discussion about the ethics of engaging boisterous online personalities — and sharp disagreement about whether influencers should be brought on board at all. No one can agree if they should be paid or remain volunteers or if they should be considered independent journalists or campaign surrogates or something else entirely. Longtime Democratic consultants tend to be antsy about influencer adoption, skeptical that any investments will reap dividends come Election Day. Meanwhile a cottage industry of digital firms specializing in connecting campaigns with vetted influencers is booming — a new consultant class eager to cash in on Democrats’ internet inexperience. “This is not something that is optional anymore,” says Stuart Perelmuter, co-founder of digital firm Good Influence, one of those operations. “In the ‘26 cycle, that's when our side woke up to the power of this work.”Nearly 20 years ago, rapper/producer will.i.am of Blackeyed Peas fame stared directly into the camera, looking somber. As a few guitar chords began to play, Barack Obama, a baby-faced Democrat running for president, appeared on… [TheTopNews] Read More.
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