#super-pacs

#super-pacs

A group of wealthy New York businessmen have in the past few days pumped more than $3 million into newly-formed super PACs that aim to stop mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani as the prospect of the democratic socialist running City Hall looks increasingly likely, new filings reveal. The last ditch spending blitz comes as the Democratic nominee continues to dominate the mayoral race, with polls showing him holding a double digit lead over his closest competitor, independent candidate Andrew Cuomo.

One was a fairly traditional super PAC, announced via a splashy press release, with multiple major industry players planning to donate over $100 million to boost AI-friendly candidates across the country. The other was far more unusual. Meta had quietly filed to create the Mobilizing Economic Transformation Across (Meta) California, a state-only super PAC that would allow Meta to spend its own money to run political ads on behalf of their AI interests - and only their interests.

Midterm watch... The Wall Street Journal reported that Andreessen Horowitz and OpenAI's Greg Brockman are among those who've helped launch a new super PAC network, called Leading the Future. The focus, of course, is AI. Ultimately, this isn't a surprise-on one hand, the $100 million already mobilized to shape AI policy and regulation feels like a lot, but that number absolutely dwarfs the billions a16z manages and that OpenAI has raised.

During a fundraiser, Donald Trump claimed he convinced a wealthy donor, worth five to six billion dollars, to increase his donation from one million to twenty-five million, arguing that a million was insufficient compared to the donor's wealth.

Sean Spiller has amassed an impressive $35 million from a super PAC associated with the New Jersey Education Association, providing him substantial financial backing as he runs for governor.