MANHATTAN — New York State Assemblyman Alex Bores is running in the Democratic primary for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York's 12th Congressional District. The Democratic primary election is scheduled for June 23, 2026, for the district covering parts of upper and midtown Manhattan, following the retirement of Democratic Representative Jerry Nadler.

Bores sponsored the RAISE Act in the New York State Legislature, and the New York State Legislature later signed a modified version into law. This act mandates that major artificial intelligence companies provide reports detailing safeguards against catastrophic risks that could injure more than 50 people. Bores said, "This race started with AI megadonors pledging $10 million to stop me because they were afraid after I passed the strongest AI safety law in the country. Since then, everyone who supports AI regulation and safety — from teachers to tech workers, from AI safety advocates to progressive activists — has united to take the other side. This isn't one company versus another, this is one ideology versus another: regulate the powerful and protect people, or don't."

Leading the Future political action committee spent $7.6 million opposing Bores through a subsidiary. The committee receives funding from donors including OpenAI President Greg Brockman, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale. Public First political action committee spent more than $6 million supporting Bores. This PAC was established by Brad Carson, a former Democratic U.S. Representative from Oklahoma, and raised $30 million from non-governmental organizations before receiving a $20 million contribution from Anthropic.

Cryptocurrency investor Chris Larsen also pledged approximately $3.5 million to support Bores, with the You Can Push Back super PAC spending nearly $1.9 million for Bores, entirely funded by Larsen. Federal campaign finance data shows approximately $9.7 million was spent in support of Bores, and nearly $7.7 million was spent in opposition to him. Six super PACs have spent a combined total of nearly $30 million in the primary race.

Morten Bay, a research fellow, said, "The lines are being drawn, and this primary is very much an expression of that. The core divide is regulation — whether you're for or against it." Candidate Jack Schlossberg said, "You're in the middle of a civil war between OpenAI and Anthropic. It has nothing to do with standing up to Trump's mega donors." Carson said, "It's not like two billionaires fighting it out. It's two philosophical movements fighting it out. All of them have wealthy supporters."

Bores, who holds a degree in computer science, was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2022 representing the Upper East Side. He formerly worked as a data scientist for Palantir but resigned during Donald Trump's first presidential term due to concerns regarding the company's immigration enforcement contracts. A May Emerson College Polling survey indicated Bores and Assemblyman Micah Lasher are statistically tied at the top of the primary field. Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pledged $10 million to the Stand for New York super PAC to support Lasher.