Democratic candidates face pressure from competing interests on tech and farm policy

As the 2026 midterm elections approach, Democratic candidates face intense pressure from competing AI super PACs. Leading the Future, backed by OpenAI executives and tech investors, has spent over $25 million in primaries to promote national standards, while Public First Action, funded with $40 million from Anthropic, advocates for state-level regulatory safeguards. This clash has sparked multi-million dollar spending wars in key races, highlighting the growing influence of tech industry campaign funding amid rising public demand for AI regulation.

AI PAC Democratic primary spending

• ▪Think Big, a Democratic sub-PAC of Leading the Future, intervened in 15 Democratic primaries during the 2026 election cycle.
• ▪Think Big, a Democratic sub-PAC of Leading the Future, spent millions of dollars to oppose New York state Assemblymember Alex Bores's primary campaign for retiring Representative Jerry Nadler's seat.
• ▪Jobs and Democracy PAC, an affiliate of Public First Action, supported New York state Assemblymember Alex Bores in his primary campaign, which Bores ultimately lost.
• ▪Think Big, a Democratic sub-PAC of Leading the Future, supported Democratic primary candidates including Ritchie Torres, Marilyn Strickland, Greg Stanton, Jimmy Panetta, Joseph Morelle, Robert Menendez, Jared Moskowitz, Dan Koh, Ben McAdams, Jesse Jackson Jr., Valerie Hoyle, Yvette Clarke, Melissa Bean, and Jeremy Moss.

Leading the Future PAC activities

• ▪Leading the Future, a pro-AI industry super PAC, spent over $25 million in primary races during the 2026 election cycle.
• ▪Leading the Future is funded by OpenAI president Greg Brockman, venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, and Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale.
• ▪Think Big, a Democratic sub-PAC of Leading the Future, offered endorsements without financial support to candidates including Sam Liccardo, Josh Gottheimer, Jimmy Gomez, Tom Suozzi, Eric Sorensen, Joyce Beatty, Herb Conaway, Emilia Sykes, and Suhas Subramanyam.
• ▪Leading the Future launched its first general election ads on September 16, 2026, spending $2 million through its Republican PAC to boost GOP Senate candidates Julia Letlow, Cindy Hyde-Smith, Darline Graham, and Mike Rounds.

Public First Action PAC activities

• ▪Public First Action and its Jobs and Democracy PAC spent money on candidates including Colin Allred, Valerie Foushee, Brian Poindexter, Scott Weiner, and Bob Brooks.
• ▪Public First Action, a super PAC network pushing for AI regulation, was founded by former Democratic Representative Brad Carson and former Republican Representative Chris Stewart.
• ▪Public First Action co-founder Brad Carson stated that the network will get involved in the general election, using litmus tests regarding export controls and opposition to state-law preemption.
• ▪Anthropic, OpenAI's chief competitor, is a major funder of Public First Action and donated $40 million to the group in 2026.

AI regulation policy positions

• ▪Representative Valerie Foushee, along with Representatives Greg Casar and Sara Jacobs, introduced a bill in August 2026 to prevent mass unemployment due to AI.
• ▪Leading the Future spokesperson Josh Vlasto stated that the group's agenda is for Congress to pass a strong and smart national regulation.
• ▪Representative Suhas Subramanyam co-sponsored the FRONTIER Act, which critics argue preempts the ability of states to regulate AI.
• ▪New York state Assemblymember Alex Bores authored the RAISE Act, which requires frontier AI labs to publish safety protocols and disclose safety breaches.
• ▪Public First Action explicitly supports state and local AI legislation and opposes federal efforts to freeze state progress without adequate federal safeguards.

Tech industry campaign funding

• ▪A survey conducted in 2026 showed that 65 percent of Americans believed the government had done too little to regulate AI.
• ▪Abigail Bellows of Common Cause stated that public anger over AI data centers and other AI overreach will power the next generation of reform on money in politics.
• ▪Colin McGlynn of Demand Progress Action noted that pro-AI PACs like Leading the Future initially used a strategy of spending big and early to influence candidates, similar to cryptocurrency PACs like Fairshake.