Turning Point activists use fake posts to claim Democrats are backing Biggs for Arizona governor

Conservative political activists working with Turning Point Action posted fake images on social media claiming a group of Democrats, including a progressive state lawmaker, are supporting Republican Andy Biggs in the state’s race for governor.

Over the weekend, Mary Ann Mendoza and Matt Whitmire made posts on the social media platform X thanking Rep. Lorena Austin (D-Mesa) for supporting the Biggs campaign. Both posts include images of an individual who bears a resemblance to Austin posing with signs that say “Demócratas por Biggs” and “Democrats for Biggs.”

But the individual in the photos does not look exactly like Austin and features several differing physical characteristics with the lawmaker, including different tattoos.

Austin confirmed they never posed for the photos backing Biggs.

“I guess my first thought was a little shocked, but not surprised, because being deceptive and deceitful is what this group kind of does,” Austin said.

For Austin, the deepfakes said a lot about Republican concerns about Biggs, who is trailing Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs by wide margins in most recent polling.

“So when you don't have a winning message, you know, that reaches everyday Arizonans, I guess you reach for one of the most progressive legislators to help you with your message,” Austin said.

Gage Skidmore/CC BY 2.0

Most of those polls show Hobbs performing better with independent voters and peeling off a small, but not insignificant, number of Republicans.

Evidence suggests the photos are “deep fakes,” or fabricated images generated by artificial intelligence.

Deepfake Detector, an AI tool designed to identify AI-generated images, video and speech, also gave the photo posted by Whitmire a “100% AI score,” noting that “visual analysis is highly consistent with AI-generated imagery. The content bears no hallmarks of natural photographic origin.”

AI-detection tools are still relatively new and not foolproof, though a University of Florida study published earlier this year found that the tools were up to 97% accurate at detecting pictures with deepfake faces.

The photos were also posted the day before Mindy Little, a deputy director with Turning Point Action, posted a similar video. That post did not include the fake Austin, but did feature five other individuals who appeared in Whitmire’s post speaking Spanish and backing Biggs.

Mindy Little on X

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That post included the disclosure that it was created with Grok Imagine, an AI image and photo generator operated by X.

“Duh!!! That’s a feature Elon loves us to use,” Little wrote when other users pointed out the video was fabricated using Grok Imagine.

Little, Mendoza and Whitmire all work with Turning Point Action, the political arm of the influential Turning Point USA organization founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Mendoza is a manager for Turning Point Action’s Chase the Vote campaign, according to her X profile. Whitmire also regularly posts on social media about his work with Turning Point Action and affiliate organizations, including a failed effort to take over the Salt River Project board earlier this year.

Mendoza and Turning Point Action did not respond to a request for comment about whether the organization knew about the posts or endorsed the tactics at play.

Both Mendoza and Whitmire deleted the photos shortly after KJZZ asked the Biggs campaign and Turning Point Action about the posts.

“Not connected in any way to our campaign,” Biggs campaign spokesman Drew Sexton said.

Legal ramifications

The photos could have legal ramifications for Mendoza and Whitmire.

In 2024, Arizona lawmakers passed laws designed to crack down on the use of deepfakes to spread misinformation about candidates during election season.

Under one law, within 90 days of an election, content creators “shall not create and distribute a synthetic media message that the person knows is a deceptive and fraudulent deepfake of that candidate who is on that ballot unless the synthetic media message includes a clear and conspicuous disclosure.”

Individuals who violate that law are subject to a $10 fine for each day “for each day that they distribute the deceptive and fraudulent deepfake without such disclosure.”

Matt Whitmire on X

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Republican election attorney Kory Langhofer said that the statute does apply to social media posts.

A separate law also gives the candidate, in this case Austin, the chance to go to court and ask for an official judgement stating they are not the person in the video.

The law does not allow for damages or an injunction requiring the image to be removed unless the image depicts a sexual act, the person in the deepfake is not a public figure and the poster does not correct the issue within 21 days.

Austin said they are still weighing their options.

“That'll be something I explore," Austin said. “But again, it is pretty fresh, so I have to figure out some of the details of that.”

‘Voters need to be wary’

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said the situation is an example of the type of false information that can become more prevalent during election season. And he urged Arizona voters to vet what they’re looking at online, especially as they prepare to vote.

“Voters need to be wary that AI is a threat to reliable election information, particularly posted online,” Fontes said. “It's not a new kind of thing for folks to try to manipulate voters with that information, but AI can do it in ways that seem reliable.”

Fontes said reliable information about the state’s elections can be found online at Arizona.Vote and from the Arizona Citizens Clean Elections Commission.