NEW YORK — A combined $19.4 million has been spent by pro-Alex Bores political action committees (PACs) with funding from tech industry figures in the New York 12th Congressional District primary. This spending exceeds the Bores campaign's total expenditures for the election.

The primary election for the open NY-12 House seat in Manhattan is scheduled to conclude on June 23, 2026. Alex Bores, a New York state assemblyman, is a candidate for the seat, as is Jack Schlossberg. Tech industry entities have spent a total of $27.83 million in an effort to influence the outcome of the primary election.

Two safety-minded AI super PACs linked to Anthropic and a super PAC connected to Chris Larsen, a cofounder of Ripple, have aired advertisements promoting Bores. Dream NYC, another pro-Bores PAC, received a large initial donation from an Anthropic employee. Public First Action, a nonprofit advocacy group, received a $20 million donation from Anthropic and directly funds the Jobs and Democracy super PAC.

Leading the Future, a $100 million super PAC focused on supporting AI-boosting candidates in congressional midterms, began airing anti-Bores ads last year. Think Big, a PAC associated with Leading the Future, has spent $8.15 million against Bores.

Bores co-sponsored the country's first AI safety law, which was successfully passed. The Guardrails Alliance, a newly launched grassroots organization primarily composed of unions and non-gajillionaire tech workers, pledged to spend $250,000 on pro-Bores advertising before the election. Shaunna Thomas, a cofounder of the Guardrails Alliance, said, "This is not about matching [Leading the Future] dollar for dollar, fighting them with money or another set of billionaires." She added, "What this vehicle is meant to do is be a political home for people who are concerned about the way the anti-regulation A.I. tech sector is trying to manipulate elections."

An Emerson College poll conducted on May 21 found Bores to be neck-and-neck with Micah Lasher, who is backed by Michael Bloomberg's super PAC. There has been no new public polling on the race, excluding polls made with prediction market data, since that date.