AI and the 2026 Midterms: What Government Affairs Teams Need to Know
Key takeaways:
- AI shaped the 2026 midterms as both a major policy issue and a growing source of political influence.
- Purpose-built AI can help government affairs teams monitor developments, analyze policy activity, and identify relevant stakeholders more efficiently.
- AI delivers greater value when it is grounded in authoritative information, connected to government affairs workflows, and supported by human judgment.
AI was at the forefront of the 2026 midterms in two distinct ways. It became a major policy and influence issue as lawmakers, technology companies, advocacy groups, and voters debated regulation, data centers, energy demand, jobs, and economic growth.
At the same time, AI shaped how government affairs professionals prepared for the election. Purpose-built AI tools helped teams monitor fast-moving developments, analyze lengthy source material, identify influential stakeholders, and translate political change into business and advocacy strategy.
Together, these trends raise an important question: How can government affairs teams track AI’s growing political influence while using AI responsibly and effectively in their own work?
Why AI policy was a midterms issue
While cryptocurrency led the campaign influence pack in the 2024 presidential election, AI emerged as a lead influencer in the 2026 midterm elections.
Technology firms, PACS and Super PACS that benefit from AI’s success launched a multi-pronged influence campaign to shape the next Congress, which was likely to weigh regulations on the AI industry, said Kate Ackley, senior lobbying reporter for Bloomberg Government, ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“What we’ve seen is just a huge rise in lobbying associated with AI – anything AI-related,” Ackley said. “It’s still a lot of the usual suspects in tech policy, but the biggest growth in terms of who’s upped their spending the most is these AI players.”
Ackley helped assemble an AI influence map for Bloomberg Government that shows a web of interested parties – from AI firms to academia – lobbying for a stake in AI’s future.
“You have a big chunk of the AI companies that are for federal preemption. They want some kind of a federal regulation for AI because they don’t want this piecemeal situation where different states have different regulations and then they’re trying to figure out how do they follow 50 different regulations and laws,” Ackley said.
Despite this, AI companies were not unified about what they wanted to see at the federal level ahead of the 2026 midterms. In some cases, they were backing opposing candidates, she added.
Hear Kate Ackley, senior lobbying reporter, explain how Bloomberg Government maps the connections shaping AI policy and political influence. [1:00]
Post-election, Bloomberg Government reporters are examining what the results mean for AI policy, crypto policy, and the broader policy agenda of the next Congress.
Download our exclusive Bloomberg Government copy of The Government Affairs Leader’s Post-Election Action Guide and prepare your team to navigate post-election change.
How AI supports the government affairs workflow around elections
For government affairs teams, the value of AI extends beyond finding information faster. Used within a trusted, purpose-built platform, AI can support the full workflow from identifying an important development to determining how the organization should respond.
During the midterm cycle, that workflow centered on four critical jobs:
- Track: Surface relevant election, legislative, and policy developments amid a growing volume of information.
- Strategize: Quickly analyze complex source material and assess what it could mean for the organization.
- Map: Identify the policymakers, staff, organizations, and other stakeholders positioned to shape an issue.
- Deliver: Turn those insights into leadership guidance, outreach priorities, and pre- and post-election strategy.
See how government affairs teams can stay up-to-date and take informed action post-election – download the guide.
Track election-driven policy shifts
Election results quickly change the outlook for legislation, oversight, appropriations, and regulation.
Bloomberg Government combines real-time policy news, federal and state legislative tracking, customizable alerts, congressional calendars, and AI-generated hearing transcripts to help teams follow competitive races, emerging campaign issues, and the policy positions of candidates and incumbents.
These tools help lobbyists identify developments that could require a change in issue strategy before or after Election Day.
Strategize priority issues
Government affairs teams must determine how potential shifts in congressional control could affect the issues they represent.
Bloomberg Government’s AI Assistant helps users find, summarize, and question relevant federal legislation, while AI-generated bill text summaries and transcript summaries accelerate the review of bills, hearings, and public statements.
With expert insights from seasoned government analysts, you can evaluate how different election outcomes could reshape committee agendas, oversight activity, funding decisions, and prospects for legislation.
Map the next set of decision-makers
Elections elevate new lawmakers, alter committee leadership, and change which congressional staff have influence over an issue.
Bloomberg Government combines comprehensive directories with AI-powered Stakeholder Intelligence to identify the policymakers and staff shaping specific policies and explain why they matter.
Use contact information, biographies, committee assignments, voting records, and leadership context to refresh stakeholder maps, identify potential champions or skeptics, and prioritize post-election outreach.
Watch Bloomberg Government Product Manager Karina Taylor use our AI-powered stakeholder tool to identify potential allies and build an issue alignment dossier. [1:40]
Turn election results into a lobbying strategy
Election Day triggers action, not simply a recap. Teams use Bloomberg Government to prepare strategies for different outcomes, build targeted outreach plans, and time engagement around leadership decisions, hearings, markups, and legislative deadlines.
Budget and federal spending data help assess how election results and shifting congressional priorities affect funding for the programs, agencies, and initiatives tied to your cause.
Together, our tools help government affairs professionals determine which relationships to strengthen, where to focus resources, and how to align their lobbying strategy with the priorities of the next Congress.
Download the post-election guide to stay informed on key next steps.
What to look for in an AI tool for election planning
Government and public affairs leaders are understandably cautious about relying on technology that may produce incomplete, outdated, or inaccurate information. They know that untrustworthy AI outputs produce extra work for their teams and introduce risk to their organization.
Policy professionals responsible for election planning turned to AI tools grounded in authoritative information for help seeing through political noise and identifying the key players poised to influence future policy.
Bloomberg Government approaches AI the same way Bloomberg approached the evolution of financial data: not as a standalone technology, but as a powerful capability built on a foundation of high-quality, proprietary information, expert analysis, and deep domain expertise.
Government affairs teams should evaluate whether an AI tool:
- Draws from authoritative, current policy and government sources
- Shows the source material behind its answers
- Provides relevant political, legislative, and historical context
- Meets the organization’s accuracy, privacy, and security requirements
- Allows professionals to verify results before using them in strategic guidance
Read more about how to evaluate AI tools for government affairs work.
Prepare for what happens next
The value of AI does not end with a faster search or summary. Government affairs teams can use trusted, connected information to identify emerging policy signals, understand who is shaping the next Congress, and determine where their organizations should focus attention post-election.
Bloomberg Government brings AI-powered tools together with trusted election and policy coverage, expert analysis, accurate transcripts, comprehensive legislative and spending data, and up-to-date stakeholder information so you can move from monitoring change to planning an informed response.
Request a demo to see how Bloomberg Government can support your team in staying ahead of all the changes to follow.