Screenshot via X
Audio By Carbonatix
In February, former state Sen. Justine Wadsack shared an AI-generated video on her Facebook page of a memeified, bearded J.D. Vance jamming out on the guitar.
“Remember when A.I. couldn’t get human ‘hands’ right, and gave people seven fingers?” Wadsack wrote. “Yeah, well, it has improved rather quickly.”
Perhaps inspired by fat J.D., Wadsack created her own AI avatar. Not to strum on the guitar or get out of a speeding ticket, but to announce on May 1 a new gig as the vice president of EZAZ.org, a civic action education group aimed at pushing right-wing election integrity causes in Maricopa County.
“Hi, this is Sen. Justine Wadsack,” the polished and poreless AI avatar of Wadsack says in the signature robotic voice you’ve probably heard all over TikTok. The avatar then announced that she — the actual Wadsack, presumably — had joined the organization’s executive team before winking and signing off with, “Happy May Day, commies.”
It’s unclear why Wadsack couldn’t film this 15-second video herself rather than farming it out to AI. She didn’t respond to a request for comment from Phoenix New Times.
That Wadsack is joining the organization, which is laser-focused on Maricopa County’s elections and not on her home of Pima County, is notable. Founded in 2022 after CEO and Chairwoman Merissa Hamilton Caldwell’s failed run for Phoenix mayor, the organization aims to make “civic education and action easy as pie so the people become the chief stakeholders of their government” by stopping the “AZ Deep State,” according to its website.
Caldwell also didn’t respond to questions about the AI video of Wadsack and the announcement that she was joining EZAZ.
Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
EZAZ and Caldwell, who is better known as a local right-wing Phoenix Twitter personality, have recently focused squarely on supporting Maricopa County Recorder Justin Heap. At times, the organization has acted as his unofficial spokesperson and criticized the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which is locked in a legal battle with Heap over election administration. EZAZ has a section of its website called “Mad Maricopa” dedicated to the ongoing feud between two parties over the county’s IT and election systems. It encourages people to call the Board of Supervisors over their dissatisfaction and support Recorder Heap.
In 2024, EZAZ’s parent LLC, Strong Communities Foundation, sued the Recorder’s Office and former Recorder Stephen Richer over the office’s alleged failure to clean the voter rolls. The lawsuit was dismissed as moot after Heap came into office.
Whatever Wadsack will be doing with EZAZ, let’s hope she puts more effort into it than she did her announcement video.
