Anna M. Gomez, the only Democrat on the Federal Communications Commission, has asked the broadcast industry's main trade group to warn stations that recent FCC signals about election coverage go beyond what the law allows. In an October 22 letter to Curtis LeGeyt, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), headed "This Administration's Coordinated Campaign to Intimidate Broadcasters," Gomez wrote that the administration is "running a coordinated, government-wide effort to reshape the media into its sanctioned messenger, and the Federal Communications Commission has become one of its most active instruments." She described three FCC actions: a warning about airing "fake" polls, new guidance on equal airtime for candidates on talk shows, and a reading of the law on discounted political ad rates. Chairman Brendan Carr and the agency's Media Bureau have described each as enforcing or restating existing rules. No response from Carr to the letter had been reported as of Monday afternoon.
The poll warning
On October 21, Carr wrote on X that "there has been a significant surge in entirely Fake Polls and Suppression Polls designed to do nothing more than interfere with the regular functioning of the electoral process." He wrote that broadcasters had aired such polls "without informing the public that those Polls lack a scientific, accurate, or even real basis," that "Broadcasters are advised to avoid engaging in News Distortions or running Broadcast Hoaxes by airing Polls that would violate their regulatory obligations," and that stations wishing to give viewers "additional context and information about Polls they have covered" could do so "consistent with FCC regulations." The post came a day after a pollster called Wedgewood admitted that its surveys, which news outlets had cited and the New York Times had included in its polling database before removing them, were an "experimental project to demonstrate the vulnerabilities" of the polling industry. Carr did not name Wedgewood or any other pollster or station. Gomez's letter says the news distortion policy requires proof that a broadcaster "deliberately distorted a factual report on a significant event," and that the hoax rule covers only knowingly false reports of a crime or catastrophe that cause immediate, substantial harm. "Reporting the results of a poll this Administration happens to dislike does not come close to meeting those standards," she wrote. Gomez has also said that "pollsters who intentionally mislead the public should answer for it." Former FCC officials from both parties, among them Reagan-era chairman Mark Fowler and Obama-era chairman Tom Wheeler, said in a statement that "Carr's threats to misuse the news distortion policy are dangerous and unconstitutional."
Equal time on talk shows
The equal opportunities rule requires a station that gives airtime to one legally qualified candidate to offer comparable time to that candidate's opponents, with an exemption for bona fide news interview programs. Gomez wrote that the rule is something "the FCC's Media Bureau has twisted into a political weapon." The Bureau's January 21 guidance says a 2006 ruling that exempted the interview portion of Jay Leno's Tonight Show was specific to that show and that the FCC "has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify." Carr said then that networks "assumed that their late-night and daytime talk shows qualify as 'bona fide news' programs even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes." Gomez says the Bureau rewrote settled guidance "without input from the full Commission and beyond its authority." After Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico appeared on ABC's The View in February, Carr told reporters, "The FCC has an enforcement action underway on that." ABC sued the agency on August 18 over what it called a "retaliatory campaign" and says no candidate has appeared on the show since February; Carr called the suit "a meritless case based on their own campaign of disinformation" and said "the FCC will follow the facts and the law wherever they go," TV Technology reported.
Discount ad rates
Federal law requires stations to sell candidates airtime at their "lowest unit charge" before an election. On March 30 the Media Bureau said the discount also covers candidate-authorized joint fundraising committees and ads coordinated between candidates and their parties. Gomez wrote that staff "unilaterally and without authority reinterpreted" the law, "handing the biggest political spenders in the country cheaper access to your members' airtime." The Bureau says its notice "merely reminds the public" of the agency's "longstanding and previous decisions." Four Democratic candidates challenged it, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit set it aside 2-1 on August 25. On an emergency application from the Republican Party's House and Senate campaign committees, the Supreme Court stayed that ruling on September 4 because the FCC had not yet decided the candidates' administrative appeal, and on October 14, at the request of the FCC and the committees, it voted 7-2 to block a follow-up order that would have forced a quick FCC decision. "We are pleased the Supreme Court has granted the FCC's stay request," an FCC spokesperson said. The notice remains in effect for now.
What she asked of broadcasters
Gomez credited NAB for opposing the FCC's April order that ABC's owned stations apply early for license renewal, which the agency tied to its investigation of diversity, equity and inclusion practices at Disney. Otherwise, Gomez wrote, NAB has stayed "largely quiet," and "an industry confronting a coordinated effort to turn licensing authority into leverage over election-year coverage needs more than a couple of tempered statements." NAB replied that it appreciated "Commissioner Gomez's recognition of the value of local broadcasters" and would "continue working with her and all policymakers to protect broadcasters' rights." The general election is November 3.
This article reflects reporting through the afternoon of Monday, October 26, 2026. Sources: Commissioner Gomez's press release and letter to NAB; Chairman Carr's October 21 post; FCC Media Bureau notices DA 26-68, DA 26-300 and DA 26-851; PBS NewsHour; TV Technology; NBC News; the Associated Press; Mediaite; Newsweek; RBR.
