Duval School Board candidate used AI to create Black supporters in campaign photo - Action News Jax
Duval County School Board candidate Clarence James deleted an AI-generated image from his Facebook page after reports revealed it depicted fake supporters
- Incident date
- Jun 2026
- Target
- Clarence James
In June 2026, Duval County School Board District 6 candidate Clarence James removed an AI-generated image from his official Facebook page following public scrutiny. The image, which was part of a series promoting a campaign fish fry, falsely depicted James surrounded by a crowd of Black supporters.
What happened
The controversy began when James posted photos to his social media account to promote a local church event. One image featured James and two other men, but the surrounding crowd exhibited clear signs of artificial generation, including distorted faces and anatomical anomalies such as a woman appearing to have three feet. After Action News Jax reporter Deja Mayfield questioned the authenticity of the image in the comments section of the post, the candidate replaced it with a different photograph.
While Florida passed legislation in 2024 requiring disclosure for AI-generated deepfakes in political attack advertisements, the image shared by James does not appear to violate this specific law. James did not respond to requests for comment regarding the incident or the implications for his campaign's integrity. This event follows other recent instances of AI-generated content appearing in Florida political campaigns, such as an AI-created video depicting a dystopian future associated with gubernatorial candidate Jay Collins.