New York Democrat Micah Lasher wins House primary that drew big spending from AI groups

New York Assemblyman Micah Lasher has won the Democratic nomination in the 12th Congressional District, NBC News projects, benefitting from his deep ties to the area and backing from party leaders in a primary that garnered national attention. Lasher emerged from a crowded field of Democrats that included fellow Assemblyman Alex Bores, Kennedy family scion Jack Schlossberg and George Conway, the former Republican lawyer turned prominent critic of President Donald Trump. Bores’ campaign was defined by a fight over AI regulation, with tech titans on both sides of the issues spending large sums of money both for and against his candidacy. But Lasher managed to sidestep that proxy war and had the backing of major state party leaders including Gov. Kathy Hochul, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who remains popular in the Manhattan district where older voters play an outsized role in elections — and retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, who currently represents it. Lasher has worked for all three of those leaders. He leaned heavily on his legislative record, framed himself as a decades-long fighter for the district. Lasher is also a vocal proponent of redrawing New York’s congressional map to boost Democrats amid the national redistricting fight, boosting him with the party’s base. An allied group, funded primarily by millions of dollars from Bloomberg, also spent heavily to emphasize Lasher’s endorsements and bolster his Democratic credentials on issues like fighting the Trump administration’s immigration policies. But the battle between warring AI factions sucked up much of the oxygen in the race, all in response to Bores’ push for more restrictions on the industry. Think Big, a super PAC affiliated with the pro-AI group Leading the Future, has spent at least $8 million against Bores. The top funders of Leading the Future include leaders at the company OpenAI and aligned venture capitalists, and the group has been critical of Bores’ views on AI regulation, arguing his regulatory framework would “handcuff” innovation. Bores argued new safeguards are needed now before the rapid development of AI platforms reaches a point of no return. And he received a boost from a competing AI company, Anthropic, which has supported a different super PAC, Jobs and Democracy PAC, that’s spent almost $7 million to defend him. Schlossberg, the grandson of John F. Kennedy, finished a distant third in the primary. He was endorsed by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as he made his first bid for public office. Lasher will be heavily favored in the November general election for the deep-blue seat.