Breaking

RAISE Act Backer Bores Loses NY Primary Amid $30M AI Spending Fight

July 1, 2026 at 09:01 EDT

Policy & Regulation
Funding & M&A

In the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary for New York's 12th congressional district (NY-12), state Assembly member Alex Bores, a former Palantir engineer who championed AI safety regulation, was defeated. The race became a proxy war over AI regulation, drawing roughly $24 million to $30 million in combined super PAC spending.

June 24, 2026 · NY-12 Democratic Primary

AI Money Enters the Ballot: The $30M Fight Over One House Seat

Alex Bores — ex-Palantir engineer and lead sponsor of the RAISE Act — lost the Manhattan-centered primary to Micah Lasher by under four points, after nearly $30 million in super PAC spending turned an intra-industry regulation fight into a funding war.

~$30M

Total independent super PAC spending on the race

<4pts

Margin by which Bores lost to Lasher

$3.65M

Bores campaign's own receipts (as of June 3)

Outside Money by Camp

Approx. independent spending, drawn to scale (each block ≈ $1M)

~$11–19M

Public First Action et al.
Pro-regulation · Anthropic-linked · supporting Bores

~$8M

Leading the Future
Regulation-skeptical · a16z, Greg Brockman · opposing Bores

Pro-regulation view

"A strategic victory"

Demonstrated financial muscle and reflected public opinion shifting their way on AI safety.

Pro-AI view

"A tactical defeat"

Doubted such large negative spending would be repeated — its "warning" effect looked limited.

The catch

The winner, Micah Lasher, also supports the RAISE Act and has called for a data-center moratorium — leaving many to argue the AI lobby's win may prove short-lived, with regulation set to become an even bigger issue in upcoming elections.

Continue reading

The rest of this article is for AI News Blitz readers. Choose an option below to keep reading.