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Texas: State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, filed a sworn complaint with the Travis County Sheriff's Office on 19 September 2026 alleging that two campaign ads posted on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's X account used AI-generated video of her saying things she never said; the posts were deleted the next day, her campaign says, and Patrick's campaign calls them obvious parody

On Saturday 19 September 2026 Vikki Goodwin, an Austin state representative running against Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, filed a complaint with a notarised affidavit at the Travis County Sheriff's Office accusing Patrick of violating Texas's 2019 election deepfake law, after his campaign posted two ads (5 and 12 September, on his non-government X account) containing AI-generated videos of her. In the affidavit she stated: 'I did not personally do or say the things depicted in the video; although the "person" in the video appears to be me, it was not actually me', and that the video was posted 'with the intent to deceive Texans, injure a candidate, or influence the result of an election'. She told KUT the ads made it look as though she favoured raising taxes, which she says she opposes in every campaign speech. The sheriff's office confirmed receipt of the complaint without further comment. Patrick's campaign spokesman told the New York Times the material was 'an obvious parody produced to entertain' and that none of it was published within 30 days of the election; the posts were taken down the day after the complaint, according to Goodwin's communications director. Goodwin said she doubted the sheriff's office would follow up now that the posts were removed. A conviction under the law is a class A misdemeanour.

AI system
Unidentified video tool
Occurred
5 Sept 2026 to 20 Sept 2026
Reported
19 September 2026
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Depicted or impersonated the person
Reported harm
Reputational Harm
Whose AI use
Someone else’s AI use
Setting
Elections · Justice · Public life
Evidence
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution disputed · 4 sources, 3 underlying accounts
5 claims: 1 corroborated, 4 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: AI-generated video (deepfake) of the candidate in two campaign ads; tool not identified

What Happened

The Texas Tribune reported on 21 September 2026 that Goodwin had filed a police report accusing Patrick of violating Texas law after his campaign released two ads featuring AI-generated videos of her, that the videos had since been deleted from Patrick's X account, and quoted her affidavit, which was shared with the Tribune and submitted with a complaint filed on Saturday with the Travis County Sheriff's Office. Goodwin cited the 2019 Texas law banning deepfake videos from being published or distributed within 30 days of an election, which the Tribune describes as defining a deepfake video as appearing to depict a real person performing an action that did not occur, with intent to deceive; Goodwin says the posts fall within that window because in-person early voting begins on 19 October and mail ballots are about to be sent. KXAN reported that the affidavit alleges two instances, the first on 5 September and the second on 12 September, both posted by Patrick's non-government X account and still online at the time of the Saturday filing, and that a conviction is a class A misdemeanour carrying up to a $4,000 fine and a year in jail. KUT (also carried by Houston Public Media) interviewed Goodwin on Monday: 'The AI ads were making it look as though I'm in favor of increasing taxes, and of course, nobody wants their taxes to be increased, so that's going to turn voters off.' KUT said the Travis County Sheriff's Office confirmed receipt of the complaint but offered no further comment, and that Patrick's campaign had not responded to KUT. The Tribune and KXAN both relay the Patrick campaign spokesman's statement to the New York Times: 'an obvious parody produced to entertain', with the added assertion that none of the parodies were published or distributed within 30 days of the election. The New York Times report of 19 September, the Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle could not be read (403 or empty shells).

Reported harm

A candidate was depicted in AI-generated campaign videos saying things she did not say, which she says misrepresented her position on taxes to voters; she filed a sworn criminal complaint and the posts were removed the next day. The depiction is undisputed (the Patrick campaign calls the videos parody); whether it was deceptive or unlawful is disputed and unresolved.

Outcome

Ongoing

Complaint and sworn affidavit filed with the Travis County Sheriff's Office on 19 September 2026; the sheriff's office confirmed receipt to KUT on 21 September without further comment; no investigation or charge has been announced, and Goodwin herself said she doubted the office would follow up once the posts were removed. The two posts were deleted from Patrick's X account on 20 September, according to Goodwin's communications director; links to them now return messages that the posts do not exist (KXAN). Patrick's campaign denies wrongdoing (parody; not within 30 days of the election). The incident date range runs from the first post (5 September) to the day the posts were removed (20 September).

What remains unknown

  • What the two videos showed and said; they were deleted, and the inspected reports describe them only as an AI-generated Goodwin describing her policies (KUT relaying the New York Times) with a tax theme (Goodwin to KUT).
  • Which tool produced the videos and who made them for the campaign.
  • Whether the Travis County Sheriff's Office opened an investigation; Goodwin herself doubted it would.
  • Whether the 5 and 12 September posts fall within the statutory 30-day window, which the two campaigns dispute.
  • The New York Times report that first carried the campaign's response could not be read.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. The Texas Tribune, KUT and KXAN describe the two ads as AI-generated videos of Goodwin; her affidavit says the person in the video appears to be her but is not; the Patrick campaign does not deny the videos were generated and describes them as parody. The tool is not identified and the videos are no longer online.

5 claims: 1 corroborated, 4 reported. What the statuses mean

Corroborated On Saturday 19 September 2026 Vikki Goodwin filed a complaint with a sworn affidavit at the Travis County Sheriff's Office accusing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of violating the 2019 Texas election deepfake law after his campaign posted two ads with AI-generated videos of her; the sheriff's office confirmed receipt of the complaint.

Causal attribution. The filing is reported from the affidavit (Tribune, KXAN) and confirmed by the sheriff's office (KUT).

  • texastribune.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'has filed a police report accusing Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of violating Texas law after his campaign released two ads featuring AI-generated videos of Goodwin.'; 'submitted with a complaint filed Saturday with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.'
  • kut.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'filed a police report saying that artificial intelligence-generated ads released by Patrick's campaign in September violated state law.'; 'The Travis County Sheriff’s Office confirmed receipt of Goodwin's complaint but did not offer additional comment.'
  • kxan.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'according to a notarized affidavit she filed Saturday with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office.'
Reported In the affidavit Goodwin stated that she did not do or say the things depicted, that the person in the video appeared to be her but was not, and that Patrick posted the video with intent to deceive Texans, injure a candidate or influence the election; the affidavit identifies two posts, on 5 and 12 September 2026, on Patrick's non-government X account; Goodwin told KUT the ads made it look as though she favoured raising taxes.

Causal attribution. The candidate's sworn allegations and interview statements; not independently established beyond the existence and contents of the affidavit.

  • texastribune.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'I did not personally do or say the things depicted in the video; although the ‘person’ in the video appears to be me, it was not actually me'; 'Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick posted the video with the intent to deceive Texans, injure a candidate, or influence the result of an election'
  • kxan.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The affidavit alleges two instances of AI-generated deepfakes targeting Goodwin, the first on Sept. 5 (27 workdays prior to Oct. 19) and the second on Sept. 12 (23 workdays).'; 'Both of the videos were posted by Patrick’s non-government account on the social media website X'
  • kut.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The AI ads were making it look as though I'm in favor of increasing taxes, and of course, nobody wants their taxes to be increased, so that's going to turn voters off'
Reported Patrick's campaign spokesman told the New York Times the material was 'an obvious parody produced to entertain' and that none of it was published or distributed within 30 days of the election; KUT received no response from the campaign.

Causal attribution. The campaign's response as relayed from the New York Times, which this review could not read.

  • texastribune.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Allen Blakemore, a campaign spokesman for Patrick, told the New York Times that the material was “an obvious parody produced to entertain.”'; 'Furthermore, we have not published or distributed any of these parodies within 30 days of the election.'
  • kxan.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Patrick campaign spokesman Allen Blakemore told The New York Times on Saturday that the videos were “an obvious parody produced to entertain.”'
  • kut.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'KUT News also reached out to Patrick’s campaign, but has not yet received a response.'
Reported The 2019 Texas law bans deepfake videos, defined as appearing to depict a real person performing an action that did not occur with intent to deceive, within 30 days of an election; early voting begins on 19 October 2026; a conviction is a class A misdemeanour with up to a $4,000 fine and a year in jail.

Causal attribution. Legal background as described by the outlets; whether the posts fall within the statutory window is disputed between the campaigns.

  • texastribune.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Goodwin cited a 2019 Texas law banning the deepfake videos from being published or distributed within 30 days of an election.'; 'defines a deepfake video as appearing to depict a real person performing an action that did not occur, with the intent to deceive.'
  • kxan.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'A conviction under the deepfake law is a class A misdemeanor, which can carry a fine of up to $4,000 and/or up to one year imprisonment.'; 'while Election Day is Nov. 3, early voting begins Oct. 19.'
Reported The two posts are no longer available on X; according to Goodwin's communications director they were taken down on 20 September 2026, the day after the complaint.

Causal attribution. The deletion date is the Goodwin campaign's account; KXAN and KUT observed only that the posts no longer resolve.

  • texastribune.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The posts were still public when Goodwin filed her police report and affidavit on Sept. 19 but were taken down the following day, according to Sophia Mirto, Goodwin’s communications director.'
  • kxan.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'However, links to the posts lead to messages saying that the posts don’t exist.'
  • kut.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Goodwin linked to two specific posts on X; however, those posts now appear to have been deleted.'

Sources

4 sources inspected, from 3 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read live in English on 2026-09-22 (The Texas Tribune, 21 September 2026 17:48 Central). Affidavit shared with the Tribune; Patrick campaign statement relayed from the New York Times; communications director on the deletion. Applies to s1.

Read live in English on 2026-09-22 (KUT Austin, 21 September 2026 13:03 CDT). Own interview with Goodwin on Monday; the Travis County Sheriff's Office confirmed receipt of the complaint to KUT. Applies to s2.

Read live in English on 2026-09-22 (Houston Public Media, 21 September 2026). Same KUT report; grouped with s2. Applies to s3.

Read live in English on 2026-09-22 (KXAN Austin, AMP page, 21 September 2026; JSON-LD retained). Affidavit dates of the two posts, misdemeanour penalty, Patrick campaign statement relayed from the New York Times. Applies to s4.

New York Times, 19 September 2026: answered HTTP 403 on 2026-09-21 and 2026-09-22; its content is known only through the Tribune and KXAN. Not relied on. Applies to s5.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: Unknown.

Posts on the X account of the Texas lieutenant governor concerning a Texas election; complaint filed with the Travis County Sheriff's Office in Austin, Texas (Tribune, KUT, KXAN). No court proceeding exists.

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-22: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an impersonation case involving a public figure: a candidate depicted by AI-generated video in an opponent's ads, with a sworn complaint filed and the posts removed. Four bodies read across three reporting chains (the affidavit via the Tribune and KXAN, the sheriff's confirmation via KUT, the opposing campaign via the Times). The depiction is undisputed; deception and illegality are disputed and recorded as such. Both principals are public officials.

People described

Vikki Goodwin, Texas state representative (District 47) and Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, a public figure who filed the complaint herself

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One depicted person, the candidate who filed the complaint. Exact 1. Voters said to have been misled are not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#deepfake#ai-generated-video#election#political-advertising#texas#travis-county#public-figure

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Texas: State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, filed a sworn complaint with the Travis County Sheriff's Office on 19 September 2026 alleging that two campaign ads posted on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's X account used AI-generated video of her saying things she never said; the posts were deleted the next day, her campaign says, and Patrick's campaign calls them obvious parody. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-texas-goodwin-ai-deepfake-campaign-ads-sheriff-complaint

BibTeX

@misc{2026_texas_goodwin_ai_deepfake_campaign_ads_sheriff_complaint,
  title = {Texas: State Rep. Vikki Goodwin, the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, filed a sworn complaint with the Travis County Sheriff's Office on 19 September 2026 alleging that two campaign ads posted on Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick's X account used AI-generated video of her saying things she never said; the posts were deleted the next day, her campaign says, and Patrick's campaign calls them obvious parody},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-texas-goodwin-ai-deepfake-campaign-ads-sheriff-complaint}
}

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