Political calls are not exempt from the TCPA.
The possibility of political campaigns facing TCPA lawsuits is not purely hypothetical. President Donald Trump has seen both of his presidential campaigns sued for text messages that allegedly violated the TCPA. Recently, his re-election had to shut down its entire texting operation due to anti-spam measures employed by telephone carriers. It is not a partisan issue, either, as the 2020 primary campaign for Bernie Sanders also faces a TCPA lawsuit. And the risks extend beyond the scope of massive, national campaigns as a state legislator in Georgia has been sued for TCPA violations allegedly committed in service of her congressional campaign.
The FCC says, specifically about political campaigns:
for calls and texts that require consent, the caller must honor the called party's request to revoke consent. The called party can revoke consent at any time and in any reasonable manner, such as replying "stop" to a text or asking not to be called again on a voice call.
Avenues for redress include:
- filing an informal complaint with the FCC
- bringing a private action, either individually or as a class action, under 47 USC §§ 227(b)(3) (e.g. Buller et al. v. Bernie 2020 Inc., D. Minn. Case No. 0:20-cv-01368, Class Action Complaint)