You might be getting texts like "Wow! Wow! Wow! Mark Kelly just made a HUGE announcement!" even if you have never made a political donation. Political texts are exempt from do-not-call rules, and call-blocking company Robokiller counted 15 billion of them in 2022. With the US midterm election on Tuesday, November 3rd, The Verge reports that a massive stream of campaign and PAC texts is hitting phones. The experts it interviewed say nothing you do will cut that stream much before Tuesday.
This guide ranks each defense by effort and payoff, so you can spend a few minutes on what matters and skip what only feels productive. It also covers how to judge a suspicious message and where to donate safely.
Why do-not-call rules don't stop political texts
Most people reach for the National Do Not Call list first, and it doesn't cover this. PIRG consumer watchdog director Teresa Murray told The Verge that political calls and texts are exempt from the do-not-call-list rules. Registering your number won't change what campaigns send you.
The volume is huge. Robokiller found 15 billion political texts in 2022, helped in part by a Supreme Court decision the year before that made it easier to send some mass calls and texts without consent. YouMail CEO Alex Quilici estimates 25 billion to 30 billion this year, though he calls that an informal approximation. He says volume is about the same as in 2024, or up to 10 percent higher.
How campaigns got your number
A past donation is the obvious route, but not the only one. According to The Verge, campaigns also get information, including guesses about whether you might give or vote for their candidate, from data brokers with no connection to politics. Those brokers collect and sell data from public voter rolls, online behavior observed by advertising web trackers, and loyalty programs.
The matching is sloppy. Sara Geoghegan, consumer privacy program director at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told The Verge that errors in identifying individuals are "very prevalent." Devices get shared, names are similar, and people move. Campaigns can end up with outdated addresses that produce texts about a state you left, or even a state you never lived in.
Murray offered two more explanations. Some groups may dial numbers in order within an area code, and an old number can linger on lists from long ago. Even Murray, who rarely gives out her number, has seen more political texts in recent weeks.
The triage table
The table is ordered by how much you get for the effort. Payoff reflects what The Verge's sources said. Anything beyond that is marked as inference.
| Tactic | Effort | Expected payoff | Limitations | |---|---|---|---| | Don't tap links from unknown numbers | Almost none | Avoids the scam risk Murray warns about | Does not reduce volume | | Block and report as spam | Low, repeated per number | Small now. If enough people report the same number in a given period, the provider might block it or label it as spam | Murray says it probably won't change anything immediately. New numbers keep appearing | | Reply STOP | Low, repeated per number | Murray says "by all means" do it. It may quiet that sender (inference) | Works one number at a time. The Verge doesn't say whether it helps against scam senders | | FCC or state attorney general complaint | Moderate | Little for you this week | Fits cases where you believe a number used an autodialer without your consent, which even political senders are not supposed to do | | VoIP number such as Google Voice | Moderate setup, then ongoing | Lets you silo those messages in an app you don't check often or get notifications from | Doesn't remove you from existing lists. Only helps for numbers you give out going forward | | Limit where you share your number | Low per instance, a lasting habit | Murray calls it the best long-term way to minimize these messages | Can't undo numbers already shared |
What to do today
Two or three actions are worth your time before Tuesday. The rest can wait.
- Stop tapping links. Murray's advice is blunt: do not click any links from numbers you don't know. This is the step that guards against scams.
- Block and report each new number. Reporting a message as spam notifies your service provider of a likely spam number. Your carrier may also offer its own reporting route, so check its official support page for current instructions rather than trusting a shortcode from a forum post.
- Reply STOP to senders that look like real campaigns. The Verge calls it the simplest option, alongside block and report. For anything that looks like a scam, blocking and reporting is the safer choice. That is an inference, since The Verge doesn't address scam senders specifically.
- Limit where your number goes. Murray encourages people to "just draw a line in the sand." Stop entering your real number in shopping portals and loyalty sign-ups unless you need to.
What to skip
Skip tracking down the data broker behind each message. Geoghegan calls this an "unregulated ecosystem," and the texts come from many senders. Skip the Do Not Call registry for this purpose, since political messages are exempt. And don't turn this into a project. Murray's words: "just don't make it your life's quest because it's probably a fool's errand."
Worked example: texts about a state you left
This is an illustration, not a real case. Dana moved from Texas to Oregon two years ago and kept her phone number. This week she gets a text asking her to "rush in even just $1" for a Texas candidate, plus a PAC message about a race she can't vote in.
What helps: Dana blocks and reports each sender, which flags the numbers to her carrier. She replies STOP to the message that clearly names a campaign. She doesn't tap the donate link. If she wants to give, she types the candidate's own website into her browser.
What doesn't help: Registering on the Do Not Call list won't touch political senders. Filing a complaint for every text won't cut volume this week, and an FCC or attorney general complaint fits best when she believes a sender used an autodialer without her consent. Chasing the outdated address is also mostly futile. The Verge says brokers pull from many places, including voter rolls, ad trackers, and loyalty programs.
What helps later: Dana can use a free Google Voice number for future sign-ups and stop giving retailers her real number. Updating her voter registration to her current address may also help, since voter rolls are one of the data sources The Verge names. That is an inference, and her local election office can confirm the process.
A checklist for judging a suspicious text
Murray warned that "in between all of the 'legitimate' political texts… there are going to be some scams in there." Tone alone is a weak signal, because the examples The Verge quotes are already breathless and strange. The checks below are general heuristics, not findings from The Verge.
- Do you know the sender? An unknown number triggers the no-links rule.
- Can you verify the candidate or PAC without the text? Search for it yourself and compare what you find with what the message claims.
- Does it pressure you to act in seconds? Urgency also shows up in real fundraising texts, so treat it as a reason to slow down, not as proof either way.
- Does it ask for anything beyond a donation? A request for login details or personal data is a bigger red flag than a donation ask.
- Does the link look off? If you can't tell, don't tap it.
A safer way to donate
Murray recommends going directly to the candidate's or PAC's website and donating there. Type the address yourself or use a search result you chose, not a link from the text.
One next action for each type of reader
If you never donated: Block and report new numbers as they arrive, then move on. The Verge notes that data brokers can put you on political text lists whether or not you take part in civic life.
If you want to give: Skip the text link and donate through the campaign or PAC website.
If you suspect a scam: Don't tap and don't reply. Block and report it. If you believe a sender used an autodialer without your consent, file a complaint with the FCC or your state attorney general.
If you want fewer texts next cycle: Create a Google Voice number for sign-ups and keep your main number off forms.
If you want to fix the root problem: Murray and Geoghegan say the real solutions will likely come from Congress or regulators. Murray suggests contacting your representatives about pressuring the FCC. Geoghegan points to stronger enforcement of existing laws.
What to expect next
Don't expect these steps to quiet your phone before Tuesday. Murray hopes the texts will stop mattering within days of the election, once the results are known. The habits you build now matter more for the next election cycle than for this week.
Editor's note for the writer: Before publishing, verify any specifics added beyond The Verge piece against official sources. That includes carrier spam-reporting shortcodes, FCC and state attorney general complaint procedures, and voter registration update steps.
