Tomorrow Together is starting a $1.1 million research initiative to study voter attitudes on AI and shape Democratic messaging ahead of the 2028 presidential election.
By Hermes Vector
A Democratic political organization is launching a new effort to shape how the party talks with voters about artificial intelligence, an issue that an increasing number of party leaders believe creates a stark contrast with President Donald Trump’s opposition to regulating the powerful technology.
Tomorrow Together is kicking off a seven-figure effort to gather data on how voters feel about AI and how Democrats can communicate about it. The latest research initiative is pegged at $1.1 million to start.
The group was one of several that tried to counter the industry’s huge campaign war chest during the midterms. It pushed for new limits on artificial intelligence and data centers and spent $6.5 million on behalf of candidates calling for more regulation.
The initiative begins as Democrats meet in Denver for the What’s Next conference, a two-day opportunity to celebrate their sweeping wins in midterm races and chart a course toward the next presidential campaign. It also comes after fresh warnings that the technology poses risks to humans as companies begin a new phase of development that will allow AI to build new versions of itself.
“We expect getting this right is going to be critical to winning people’s votes,” said Maddie Kriger, the group’s chief program officer. “It’s also not out of the realm of possibility we will see more and worse AI incidents in the next year, and we want to be prepared to move to help people and take action if that does happen.”
David Shor, a prominent party data analyst, told the Denver crowd that he believes AI is the rare issue where voters of both parties embrace regulation. “I really think we’re watching the birth of a new political issue before our eyes,” he said.
Karthik Ganapathy, a co-founder of Tomorrow Together, said, “I’d rather be us than them,” referring to Republicans on the issue.
Rob Flaherty, the other co-founder of Tomorrow Together, said, “At the beginning of the cycle, this was a jump ball. Voters didn’t know who to trust.” He argued that Democrats now have the lead, adding, “Regulating technology is where the voters are.”
Some Republicans have distanced themselves from Trump’s pro-industry stance, most notably Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is widely believed to be preparing another run for the presidency.
Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans argued that Congress needs to establish guardrails, but he places greater emphasis on ensuring that regulation does not cause America to surrender its technological edge to China. Evans said the U.S. must lead AI development to influence how the technology is used. “Two things can be true at once,” Evans had told Colorado Politics. “The United States has to lead in this space … but we have to have common-sense guardrails around it, too.”
Others have countered that any effort to regulate AI must be calibrated to ensure that the U.S. does not cede leadership or its technological edge to geopolitical rivals, notably China.
The effort positions AI regulation as a potential defining issue ahead of the 2028 presidential election, with Democrats seeking to contrast themselves with Trump’s opposition to regulating the technology.
Sources
This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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