As fact-checkers, we watch a lot of ads in the lead-up to elections, and we only write about a fraction of them. Some of them are downright bizarre. As we first started doing 20 years ago — just for fun — on Election Day, we’re giving out pretend awards to some of the notable ads we came across this campaign cycle.
Our primary focus is national politics, but a number of this year’s winners are from the state and local level. You may notice that one winner has something in common with director Martin Scorsese, and another honoree is featured holding something just as furry. There’s also an award recognizing the contributions of AI because we want to get on its good side.
Read our awards story and go to the polls and vote. The order in which you do them is less important.
Toughest on China
Winner: Sen. Marsha Blackburn, candidate for Tennessee governor
This ad shows Blackburn, a Republican, has a strategy for cracking down on China that other politicians probably have not considered. It involves going to a Chinese restaurant and smashing all of its fortune cookies. (In 2024, she broke a lot of china, as in plates.)
“Here in Tennessee, we’re going to stop communist China and protect Tennessee land,” she says, appearing satisfied with her display of destruction. If only negotiating with Chinese President Xi Jinping were that simple.
It was considerate of Blackburn not to harm the restaurant’s maneki-neko figurine in the making of the ad. That must be because of its Japanese origin.
Cutest Pasta
Winner: Wisconsin state Rep. Steve Doyle
Doyle’s recipe for an effective ad was a dash of humor and a sprinkle of manipulation. The Democratic assemblyman running for reelection in Wisconsin did the same kind of emotional appeal that he warned voters about in the ad.
“Have you noticed how politicians prey on emotions to influence voters?” he asks, adding that they’ll use “pictures of babies” or “scare tactics” just to get votes. Don’t fall for it, he says, all while holding a baby of his own – an adorable alpaca named Pasta.
Because of that distraction, we’d understand if viewers missed everything Doyle later said about wanting to lower taxes, make healthcare affordable and reign in big tech.
And get this: Pasta has an alpaca sister named Noodle. Put those two in an ad together and Doyle really won’t be fighting fair.
The John Stockton Award for Assists
Winner: AI
Ever had a guest who just won’t leave? Yeah…Ohio knows the feeling. 🎂 https://t.co/bWbnwQX7Hr
— Ohio Flyer PAC (@OhioFlyerPAC) April 20, 2026
A number of analysts have dubbed the 2026 midterms the first “AI election.” That’s because so many ads this cycle have been made with the help of artificial intelligence.
The Wesleyan Media Project said $137 million was spent on 220 ads featuring AI-generated or enhanced content through Oct. 11. That’s up from virtually nothing in 2024, and still likely an “undercount,” it has said. Republicans, more so than Democrats, have used the technology when producing ads, the project’s analysis has found.
In the Republican ad above, an AI version of Democrat Sherrod Brown overstays his welcome at a birthday party. Other notable AI-assisted ads showed Democrat James Talarico writing his own version of the Bible (we fact-checked it), and Republican Rep. Thomas Massie in a “throuple” with Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar. And some AI ads have prompted cease-and-desist letters from the targeted candidates, such as one in North Carolina that put Jessica Bichler, a state Senate candidate, in crazy yoga positions.
Wesleyan said most of the ads don’t even mention being made with AI, leaving viewers to figure it out. We’re sure that’s because AI is a great teammate and didn’t want credit.
The Best Worst Facial Hair
Winner: Charly Ray, candidate for state Senate in Wisconsin
Typically, at least some political candidates sport unusual beards or mustaches. But this year — at least in Wisconsin — it’s all about the eyebrows.
Democrat Charly Ray, who’s running for state Senate, put out an ad embracing voter reaction to his large, unruly brows, while taking the opportunity to use them as policy metaphors and to gently rib another politician in the state.
“Like data centers, they’ve had very little oversight,” Ray says of his brows in an impressive deadpan. “Like our schools, maintenance has been underfunded.”
He boasts that his eyebrows are “all-natural,” unlike those of “some politicians,” as the ad flashes a photo of Republican U.S. House candidate Michael Alfonso, who is the son-in-law of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. Alfonso’s well-coiffed brows have drawn comparisons to Bert the Muppet, so he’s received some teasing as well.
Ray, who says there will be no trimming on his part, is not the only politician to capitalize on their brows this year. In the Canadian city of Burlington, Ontario, a female mayoral candidate voluntarily drew on a unibrow (as well as a mustache) à la sign graffiti to cheekily poke fun at herself in an ad to get out the vote. (Alas, she lost her race.)
Worst Romance Plotline
Winner: Steve Hilton, candidate for California governor
Steve Hilton, the Republican running for governor in California, caused a stir with this ad. It shows two young women sitting on a bed in a darkened room, music playing, a large Pride flag on the wall behind them.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” one says.
“Don’t be nervous,” the other says, stroking her hair. “It’s not that bad.”
“I’ve just never done anything like this before. Like what if my dad finds out?”
Eventually, the camera pans down and we see what they’re talking about: filling out a ballot for a Republican, namely Hilton.
“I think I like it?” the first woman says, giggling.
“Now lick it,” the other says — and holds out an envelope for a mail-in ballot.
The ad’s final frame tells voters: “Just try it! Steve Hilton for Governor.”
The suggestive ad prompted pushback from many in Hilton’s own party, including a state superintendent candidate who called it “Weird, creepy, disturbing garbage.” Hilton defended the ad but asked “for some grace,” saying the thought that he had upset anyone saddened him.
Barn Dancing with the Stars
Winner: Jamie Ager, candidate for U.S. House in North Carolina
Campaign ads often show candidates pledging to bring change to Washington. Jamie Ager’s prescription for change in this ad is a bit different.
“Do you know what we need more of in Washington, D.C.?” Ager, a Democrat running for Congress in western North Carolina, tells a crowd as music starts up. “Barn Dances!”
The next shots show people young and old dancing to a live band, in an airy barn with lights strung from the rafters. Ager is seen mixing it up with the other dancers.
“Amy and I host these every month,” Ager continues. “Politicians just dance with the lobbyists. But I’ll take a good mountain hoedown any day.”
Then he dances around to his talking points: investing in western North Carolina, taking on corporate greed and securing funds for the ongoing recovery from 2024’s Hurricane Helene.
Worst Sense of Direction
Winner: Defending Main Street PAC
This super PAC ad is pretty straightforward yet still went in the completely wrong direction. It attacks Democrat Troy Jackson, who would represent Portland and other parts of Maine if he defeats Republican Sen. Susan Collins. But the ad ended up briefly airing in Portland, Oregon, which is on the other side of the country.
The geographic mix-up actually wasn’t Defending Main Street PAC’s fault. It blamed the error on its advertising vendor, Cross Screen Media, which took responsibility.
“During a recent independent expenditure, our media vendor mistakenly placed approximately $25,000 in digital advertising in the Portland, Oregon media market instead of Portland, Maine,” a representative for the super PAC said in a statement emailed to us. Nevermind that they ignored our questions about the misleading claims in the ad, as we wrote.
The super PAC ultimately got a refund, but this could have been an even costlier mistake. There are multiple Portlands in the U.S., including in Texas, Connecticut and Tennessee.
The Eye Spy Award
Winner: BJ Wyrick, candidate for mayor of Little Rock, Arkansas
What the Flock? This ad from the mayoral race in Arkansas wasn’t on our radar until we went searching for award-worthy ads we may have missed. Maybe we shouldn’t have.
As far as we know, the ad was only posted to Facebook. It warns Little Rock residents – in a Rockwell-inspired song – that the city is “watching you” and “everything you do” with thousands of cameras. After a controversy involving local police officers, Wyrick, the nonpartisan vice mayor who wants the city’s head job, spoke out against law enforcement using Flock camera systems, which capture vehicle activity and can be helpful in police investigations. We assume that’s the point of the ad’s lyrics, but it isn’t exactly clear.
What’s really creepy is the illustration for the ad, which features a lot of glossy eyeballs of different sizes. Who wouldn’t fear being watched after seeing something like that?
The True Blood Award for Glamouring
Winner: President Donald Trump
The U.S. Government is up on TV with this spot —
It aired nationally on FOX yesterday during Illinois at #7 Ohio State and also during Fox News Sunday this morning https://t.co/8PP9FPzUZk
— Medium Buying (@MediumBuying) September 27, 2026
The vampires on the TV series “True Blood” used direct eye contact, or glamouring, to hypnotize people and influence their thoughts. Here, Trump appeared to try the same technique.
In the video, which is in black and white for maximum effect, Trump does a model walk down a hallway while staring intensely into the camera for nearly 30 seconds. As he does that, a voiceover plays with Trump saying “we will demolish the deep state,” “expel the warmongers from our government,” “drive out the globalists,” and “cast out the communists, Marxists and fascists.” We’ll have to wait to see if Trump’s method worked.
The White House experimented with some mental tricks, too, when it tried to convince critics of the taxpayer-funded message that it’s a public service announcement rather than a campaign ad. That was tough to do since Trump kept telling voters to pretend he is on the ballot, and released an almost identical ad during his 2024 run for president.
Editor’s note: FactCheck.org does not accept advertising. We rely on grants and individual donations from people like you. Please consider a donation. Credit card donations may be made through our “Donate” page. If you prefer to give by check, send to: FactCheck.org, Annenberg Public Policy Center, P.O. Box 58100, Philadelphia, PA 19102.
