A relatively unknown candidate for the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners is under investigation by the state’s elections office after a complaint accused her of illegally using AI-altered images of herself on a campaign website.
The candidate, Brooke West, was a last-minute entry into the race for Position 1, entering the race six days before the filing deadline in March. By that time, longtime incumbent Commissioner Tony DeBone and challenger Jamie Collins, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, had already built substantial campaigns ahead of the May 19 primary election. Now, West’s low-profile and seemingly longshot candidacy — she has generally not responded to interview requests from media, including emails and phone calls requesting comment for this story — has the attention of Collins’ campaign.
The complaint, filed by a consultant affiliated with Collins’ campaign, alleges West violated a 2024 law passed by the Oregon Legislature that requires campaigns to disclose when their materials are created or manipulated using Artificial Intelligence. The complaint was filed April 17 with the Oregon Secretary of State’s Elections Division and provided to the Source by the office.
“Brooke West’s campaign website (for Deschutes County Commission Position 1) appears to have multiple Al-generated or altered images featured, yet no disclosure,” wrote Hannah Love, a Portland-based political strategist working on Collins’ campaign. “I believe it’s incumbent upon the elections division to ask the candidate to provide the name of the photographer, the location and date it was shot, and clear identification of the people featured, in order to determine if these images are real or artificial.”
If West is found to be in violation, she could face up to a $10,000 fine.
Love confirmed via LinkedIn she filed the request for an investigation, but didn’t respond to follow-up questions about her involvement in the Deschutes County Commission race. Campaign finance records show Collins’ campaign has paid Love’s consulting company about $20,000 since August.
The elections office notified Love April 29 it had opened an investigation into the AI violations. The office chose not to investigate a second allegation in the complaint, which said West had failed to register a candidate committee to report campaign donations and spending. The state said campaigns that don’t expect to spend more than $1,500 are exempt from filing a committee.
Collins did not respond to a request for comment on this story, including specific questions about Love’s work for his campaign.
DeBone declined to comment.
“I’ve got no information and no comment,” he said.
Though West’s candidacy seems like a longshot, it could still affect the race. With three candidates in the race, it’s more likely that neither DeBone or Collins will secure the 51% of the vote needed to win the seat in the May primary, which would force a runoff in the November general election.
Questions unanswered
The complaint specifically cites two images from West’s campaign website. One shows West posing with two dogs amid a backdrop of what appears to be the Three Sisters mountains. In the other, West is conversing over plans with a worker at what appears to be a housing construction site.
West is donning a hat with a logo reading “W&W Construction.”
West’s county commission filing paperwork, along with her entry in the voter’s pamphlet for the primary election, lists her occupation as “business owner and operator,” with a background as a “construction operations manager, bookkeeper, administrative management, compliance coordinator.” West does not name a specific business anywhere in the materials.
A search for West’s name in the state’s business registry database produces no results. A business under the name W&W Construction LLC is registered to Donald Waibel, at an address just outside of Tumalo.
A Google search for W&W Construction in Deschutes County produces what’s called a “knowledge panel” — or a box with information pulled from various sources across the web — that links W&W Construction LLC with West’s phone number. A website isn’t listed, and the name doesn’t appear in the top results in a Google search for the business name.
West didn’t respond to phone calls or emailed questions about whether the images were generated using AI, or questions about her work.
West’s statement in the Deschutes County Primary Election Voters’ Pamphlet says she attended Bend’s Summit High School and got degrees from Central Oregon Community College and OSU-Cascades. It also says she is a “third-generation contractor.”
Her mother, Tana West, is running for Deschutes County Assessor, the top county official in charge of setting property values. West, a longtime deputy assessor for the County, was endorsed by retiring assessor Scott Langdon.
Tana West confirmed her relation to Brooke West in an email.
“However, we are running completely separate and distinct campaigns, and I am not endorsing or involved in any campaign other than my own race for Deschutes County Assessor,” West said. “I was not aware of the allegations or any potential violations referenced in your email prior to hearing from you today.
She declined to comment further on her daughter’s campaign.
Rise of AI in campaigns
Oregon lawmakers passed SB1571 amid growing concerns locally and across the country that emerging technologies allow campaigns to manipulate voters by creating seemingly real videos, photos and images of events that never actually happened — so-called “deepfakes.” Supporters, including the Secretary of State’s Office, said the bill would strengthen public trust in elections. Some opponents said it didn’t go far enough to restrict the use of generative images in campaign materials, while others, like the ACLU of Oregon, warned of free speech violations while also recognizing the risks of deepfakes.
The allegations against West are not the first time the use of AI has come up in Deschutes County this election cycle. When Oregon Public Broadcasting published responses to a questionnaire from all 15 Deschutes County Commission candidates earlier this year, the station noted that Samuel Facey, a candidate in the six-way race for Position 3, admitted to using AI to write his answers, calling it a “vital tool.”
The law applies only to “synthetic media” — photos, videos and audio. It also exempts media outlets that publish altered content in advertising, and in reporting, as long as it’s stated the content was altered.
According to Spokesperson Tess Seger, the Secretary of State’s Office has received a few investigation requests since the AI campaign law passed in 2024, but none have led to penalties. One other AI complaint has been filed this primary election, but the office declined to investigate.
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