WASHINGTON (AP) — Two opposing factions in the artificial intelligence industry square off in a Democratic primary for a U.S. House seat. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani tests his political clout by backing fellow democratic socialists. And President Donald Trump, after two of his chosen candidates for governor lost Republican primaries this month, ensured it won't happen again — by endorsing both candidates in a South Carolina runoff.
Those are a few of the races to watch on Tuesday as voters head to the polls for primaries in Maryland, New York, South Carolina and Utah.
The crowded Democratic primary became a proxy battle between two powerful camps of the artificial intelligence industry because of one candidate: New York Assemblyman Alex Bores.
Bores, a former Palantir employee who cited ethical concerns in leaving the company, pushed one of the more sweeping state-level AI regulation bills in the country. Now, Bores points to that legislation — which faced some industry pushback — as a framework for how he'd approach regulation in Congress.
So when he stepped into the race for the New York congressional district being vacated by retiring Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler, a political group underwritten by investors in OpenAI spent more than $7 million on ads against Bores.
Then an opposing wing of the industry, one more in favor of regulation, rode to Bores' aid.
Political groups partly funded by Anthropic, which makes the chatbot Claude, spent more $10 million to boost Bores' candidacy. Anthropic was co-founded by former OpenAI employee, Dario Amodei, who left the company partly over concerns about AI safety.
The election will offer some measure of the political might of the two AI industry factions.
The New York City mayor endorsed Democratic primary candidates hailing from his own political camp — a progressive and two democratic socialists — who are challenging more established candidates, some backed by party leadership.
U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman, whose seat extends from lower Manhattan to a chunk of Brooklyn, is up against Mamdani-backed challenger Brad Lander, the former comptroller. A central contention between the two Jewish candidates is the war in Gaza, with Lander assailing Goldman for not being critical enough of Israel.
Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., has a discussion in January with a legal observer at U.S. immigration court in Manhattan. Photo by David "Dee" Delgado/Reuters
North of that race, in upper Manhattan, Democratic U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, 71, is facing off against Mamdani-endorsed Darializa Avila Chevalier, 32. The latter is a democratic socialist who hasn't held public office before and works at a public defender's office providing legal aid to victims of police brutality.
For the seat covering parts of Brooklyn and Queens, where U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez is retiring, Mamdani endorsed Assemblymember Claire Valdez, another self-described democratic socialist. The departing Velázquez has endorsed another contender, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso.
The three primaries will help distinguish not just Mamdani's political clout, but the continued viability of democratic socialist platforms in New York City.
Trump often touts his otherwise strong record of endorsing winning candidates in Republican primaries, but his picks in gubernatorial races haven't found as much success: his choices in Georgia and Iowa lost this month.
After the defeats, Trump ensured an ironclad victory for his endorsement in South Carolina's Republican runoff for governor: he backed both candidates on the same ballot.
The president initially supported Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette in May, but on Friday, he added an endorsement for Evette's opponent, state Attorney General Alan Wilson.
"I can't hurt one of them by only Endorsing the other, so therefore, I am going to Endorse, for Governor of South Carolina, both Pam Evette and Alan Wilson!" he wrote in a social media post Friday. "It's a Wealth of Riches – With either one you can't go wrong."
The projected winner? Trump's endorsement record.
It's unusual for Utah's Democratic primaries to draw much attention, but that's because the party hasn't had much of a shot in the staunchly red state. That is until redistricting last year.
It created a lone Democratic island centered on Salt Lake City, which has a dark enough hue of blue that primary candidates have found themselves jostling for who's farther to the left. And Democratic primary voters, as in other left-leaning districts across the country, will decide how progressive they'd like their candidate.
That's an unusual tune for Utah Democrats, and for primary candidate Ben McAdams. The former U.S. representative has tried to cast off his reputation as a moderate as he runs against three opponents from his progressive flank.
When McAdams last ran in 2018, ousting a Republican, he described himself as pro-life and fashioned himself as a moderate. Now, in the new left-leaning district, he's pledged to support abortion rights and said he's only "moderate in tone."
The more progressive candidates challenging him include state Sen. Nate Blouin, who has said the electorate has grown accustomed to Democrats who will "play nice" with Republicans and who has won support from Sen. Bernie Sanders. Another is political newcomer Liban Mohamed.
Republican Larry Hogan reigned as Maryland governor for eight years, standing on a more moderate conservative platform to keep his perch in the left-leaning, East Coast state.
At Hogan's departure, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore took over in 2023, and is now seeking reelection for a second term. But so far Republicans haven't found a clear successor to Hogan as Tuesday's primary forces a decision from a field of nine candidates.
One is Dan Cox, an attorney who lost his gubernatorial bid four years ago, and who has more embraced a rightward flank, pledging to cut taxes and invest in housing affordability programs. Then there's Ed Hale, owner of the Baltimore Blast soccer team and retired banking executive, who flipped his party from Democrat to Republican for this race.
Bedayn reported from Austin, Texas.
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