Opinion

Beltran's Victory Over AI-Generated Attack Days Before FL-14 Primary

A Hillsborough County judge halted an AI-generated attack mailer against Beltran.

The Congressional Times · August 11, 2026

A Hillsborough County judge granted Mike Beltran a temporary restraining order on August 10, 2026, halting mailers from Conservative Solutions for America that showed him holding a "DEFUND THE POLICE" sign. Beltran stated in his verified complaint that he never held the sign and that the image was AI-generated.

Judge Christine A. Marlewski found the mailers likely violate Florida Statute § 106.145, which requires AI-generated political content depicting a real person doing something they didn't do to carry a disclaimer. The group's mailers were inconsistent: some carried the disclaimer, some fell short of the statute's size requirements, and some had none at all.

• The statute applies specifically when such content is "created with intent to injure a candidate or to deceive regarding a ballot issue."

The court found Beltran likely to win the case outright and ordered a preliminary injunction hearing, giving the group until August 13 to settle or fight it in court. Beltran posted a $1,000 bond, standard for this type of order.

The ruling lands eight days before the August 18 primary, with early and mail voting already underway. It also comes days after a leaked Catalyst Research poll, first reported by Florida Politics, showed Beltran with a narrow lead over Steele among likely Republican primary voters, 29% to 26%, within the poll's 4.4-point margin of error. The poll was conducted August 6-8, as early voting began.

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