{"id":1768,"date":"2026-08-31T11:38:30","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T11:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1768"},"modified":"2026-08-31T11:38:30","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T11:38:30","slug":"political-campaigns-quietly-pay-social-media-influencers-to-promote-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1768","title":{"rendered":"Political Campaigns Quietly Pay Social Media Influencers to Promote Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Political campaigns are increasingly paying social media influencers to promote candidates without clearly telling voters that the endorsements are sponsored, exploiting a largely unregulated area of campaign advertising.<\/p>\n

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Josh Greene, a 26-year-old progressive influencer known online as @joshtheprogressive, has nearly 800,000 followers and has promoted dozens of Democratic candidates during the midterm elections.<\/p>\n

Campaign finance records reviewed by The New York Times show Greene received money from at least seven candidates or political groups supporting them during the current election cycle. Former California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer paid Greene $21,500.<\/p>\n

Greene had criticized Steyer in February, saying he \u201cisn\u2019t the progressive champion you might think.\u201d By May, around the time he received the $21,500 payment, Greene was calling Steyer \u201cthe most progressive viable candidate in the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greene said he accepts money only from candidates he already supports and argued that clearer disclosure rules are needed.<\/p>\n

The practice extends well beyond a single influencer. Steyer\u2019s campaign paid 17 influencers at least $5,000 each during California\u2019s primary, including $400,000 to TikTok creator Carlos Eduardo Espina. Former Rep. Katie Porter\u2019s gubernatorial campaign paid 12 influencers a combined $139,500.<\/p>\n

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Other operations have used networks of lesser-known creators to flood social media with political content.<\/p>\n

The Times identified at least 87 creators registered with the company SideShift who posted material supporting Steyer, Michigan Senate candidate Haley Stevens or Texas Senate candidate James Talarico. Most did not acknowledge receiving money.<\/p>\n

One creator, Paige Dunmeyer, portrayed herself online as a Michigan resident while promoting Stevens before appearing the following day on another account identifying herself as living in Wisconsin. Corporate records showed she was based in Kansas City, Missouri.<\/p>\n

Federal law generally does not require influencers to disclose payments for political endorsements on social media. The Federal Trade Commission requires disclosures for paid commercial promotions but exempts political messaging, while the Federal Election Commission has not adopted comparable rules for influencers.<\/p>\n

The phenomenon is bipartisan, with Republican candidates and political groups also benefiting from paid influencer campaigns. But the expanding use of undisclosed political sponsorships is raising questions about whether voters can distinguish genuine grassroots enthusiasm from advertising they were never told was advertising.<\/p>\n

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Political campaigns are increasingly paying social media influencers to promote candidates without clearly telling voters that the endorsements are sponsored\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1767,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nPolitical Campaigns Quietly Pay Social Media Influencers to Promote Candidates - Urban Economy news<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/urbaneconomynews.com\/?p=1768\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Political Campaigns Quietly Pay Social Media Influencers to Promote Candidates - 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