AI is already influencing New Jersey’s Governor’s Race
AI is already influencing New Jersey’s Governor’s Race
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 10/9/25
NEW YORK – AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity recommend a candidate in more than 80% of voter-issue queries in New Jersey’s hotly contested governor’s race, according to a new report titled “Who Should Be NJ’s Next Governor, According to AI” by the tech consultancy Literate AI.
The Literate AI report found:
- AI readily recommends candidates when prompted
In over 80 percent of the queries tested, Large Language Models (LLMs), including ChatGPT, make clear candidate endorsements. A simple nudge is enough to allow users to bypass any LLM’s purported block on expressing candidate preference.
- Content licensing gaps skew sources
A Sept. 3 candidate Q&A by the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants was one of the most influential sources across the queries tested. And while The Bergen Record newspaper was one of the top sources, institutional media like The New York Times were excluded because of content licensing issues.
- Campaigns lag in AI optimization
Both campaigns’ websites appeared equally in responses. Neither appears to be tailoring content for AI discovery with machine-friendly formats like Q&As and explainers.
“The New Jersey governor’s race is one of the first AI elections,” said Matthew Van Dusen, the co-founder and CEO of New York-based Literate AI, and a former reporter at The Record. “Some AI companies protest that their tools don’t express candidate preference, but it’s easy to get around any blocks. It’s clear AI is an emerging information battleground for candidates.”
Mike Beson, a market expert at Literate AI, and the owner of Guide Strategies, who has been involved in the intersection of government and technology for over 30 years, added: "Our report should be a wake-up call to campaign managers, policy makers, and business leaders. Candidates and voters alike need to educate themselves on how AI is going to shape opinion and be aware of its pitfalls.”
AI Use Among NJ Voters Rising
Today, 37 percent of New Jersey voters report using AI daily or weekly, according to an Oct. 3 Stockton Poll. As the technology becomes more embedded in everyday lives, experts expect voters to use LLMs to sort through candidate positions on complex issues.
Literate AI’s study compiled the results of more than 40 queries about candidate positions in the gubernatorial election across three major LLMs: Google AI Overviews (Gemini), Perplexity and ChatGPT, which today claims 800 million active weekly users. The firm reviewed the data to identify the sources that informed the responses and reviewed the responses themselves.
AI platforms are probabilistic, meaning results can vary from one query to the next. The analysis used software that programmatically runs queries through LLMs using neutral personas, ie. without any query history, to ensure consistency. The findings reflect what many users are likely to see most of the time but they should not be taken as definitive or permanent.
Political Campaigns Must Talk to AI Bots
Van Dusen said the explosive growth of LLMs and the corresponding drop in visitors to media sites, which have lost up to 40 percent of traffic, indicates that AI is becoming a key source of information in all arenas, including politics.
“Forward-looking Fortune 500 companies are already optimizing their presence on LLMs because that’s where people go to learn about the world,” Van Dusen said. “Political campaigns are going to have to start talking directly to the AI bots because they are the new gatekeepers.”
About Literate AI
Literate AI pairs AI insights with human brilliance to give clients a competitive advantage in a world overrun by algorithms. Our team has decades of experience across marketing, communications, AI & software engineering and consulting.
