If political texts and ads feel more personal this election cycle, consultants say that is by design. From voter modeling to AI-driven ad placement, campaigns are using data to better target potential supporters across North Texas and beyond. Voter profiles During an election, data helps fu el the texts, digital ads and polling requests voters receive. NBC 5 Responds spoke with Ross Hunt of Hunt Research. “I’m a political survey researcher, which means I’m responsible for all those annoying text messages you get, not all of them, as we’ll discuss,” Hunt said. Hunt conducts opinion research primarily for Republican candidates and causes. He said polling, combined with demographic data and voter history, helps campaigns estimate how a voter may behave. Using a hypothetical voter as an example, Hunt described how modeling works. “They don’t vote at all, but they live in a household with someone who is a Democrat,” Hunt said. Based on that data, he said the voter might be modeled as 45% likely to support a Democrat but unlikely to cast a ballot. “They’re only about 16% likely to vote in the November election. You can have the scores for all these different voters,” Hunt said. “This is why people who are participating in a lot of elections get a lot of contact from campaigns and also from fundraising organizations.” Consultants from both parties said advances in technology and artificial intelligence have made voter analysis more precise. “We’ve noticed, or a lot of voters have brought up to me recently, that they feel like they are getting much more specific targeting. Part of that is because that modeling has improved drastically,” said Sam Gostomski of Pitchfork Strategies. Gostomski, a political consultant and former executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, previously served as its data director. He said campaigns can purchase consumer profiles from data brokers to supplement voter files, though he said that type of information is not typically the driving force behind outreach. “It’s probably not what they’re using for targeting because they’ve got eight months to win your vote and they’re probably not going to build a marketing campaign around what you bought on Amazon two years ago, right,” Gostomski said. Social media targeting Consultants said campaigns do not have direct access to an individual’s private viewing history on social media platforms. “I can’t look at and ask, okay, what does Diana watch this week? Nor can I even say I want to target Diana because I think she is, this percentage, likely to watch my ad,” Hunt told reporter Diana Zoga. “What I can do is say, okay, she’s a likely voter, let’s match her to the file and then let the algorithm figure out who’s going to consume the most of these videos,” Hunt said. Privacy laws and platform policies limit access to personal viewing data. Brendan Steinhauser of Steinhauser Strategies said campaigns instead rely on aggregate performance metrics. “They know how many people view their content, how many people clicked on the content,” Steinhauser said. He said campaigns can also collect information directly from users who respond to calls to action. “If people are actually taking an action, like donating or signing a petition, then the campaigns do get that information of those individuals, often with their name, their email, their zip code and other attributes,” Steinhauser said. “It’s a very powerful way to sort of identify supporters and get them into your own campaign.” Steinhauser said AI tools allow campaigns to analyze and scale data more quickly. Decision 2026 8 hours ago Here's how to avoid confusion at the polls NBC 5 Responds Feb 13 NBC 5 Responds to user who lost access to social media account with no support help “Now with the algorithms so strong and AI being integrated into everything, they know more than they ever have and their ability to not only scale that data and acquire more data, but to deliver the messages in a much more targeted way is off the charts. I think 2026, that’s going to be a big story of this election cycle,” he said. Political websites and data transparency Campaigns also collect information through their websites. One study examining hundreds of 2020 federal campaign websites found many lacked privacy disclosures or transparency about how long personal data — most commonly phone numbers and email addresses — was retained. The study reported that when users donated, subscribed to email lists or signed up to volunteer, their information was sometimes rented or sold to other candidates, political action committees, parties or private brokers after the election. “Transparency is something that users can demand so they’re more informed,” said one of the study’s authors, Dr. Kaushal Kafle. Consultants noted that voting history — whether someone voted — is public record. However, who a person voted for is not public. Voters can opt out of political texts and review privacy policies on campaign websites to better understand how their information may be used. NBC 5 Responds is committed to researching your concerns and recovering your money. Our goal is to get you answers and, if possible, solutions and a resolution. Call us at 844-5RESPND (844-573-7763) or fill out our customer complaint form. Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. 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