Sam Bankman Fried’s past political cash gives AI PAC fuel for going after NY state lawmaker Bores

A political action committee with ties to major tech and crypto donors is raising the specter of disgraced ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to target New York congressional candidate Alex Bores as the state legislator faces a crowded Democratic field.

A sharply worded mailer distributed by Think Big PAC told voters that the Democratic primary candidate for New York’s 12th Congressional District once got more than $100,000 in support from the former head of the failed global exchange, and alleges that “Bankman-Fried’s buddies are bankrolling Bores for Congress.” It also criticizes Bores’ campaign financing and positions him as out of step with constituents, urging voters to “do better than Bores.”

The attack lands as Bores competes in a high-profile primary that has drawn several prominent Democratic contenders, including Jack Schlossberg — a member of the Kennedy family — and other well-connected figures such as George Conway. The race to succeed Rep. Jerry Nadler in the deep-blue Manhattan district is expected to be one of the most closely watched primaries in the 2026 cycle.

“For someone who’s railed against deep fake AI, candidate Bores doesn’t seem to have trouble creating his own reality. He raked in over $100,000 from Sam-Bankman Fried’s sordid political network but refuses to acknowledge the connection” a spokesperson for Think Big PAC told CoinDesk, which confirmed the amounts through state elections filings. “Bores is entitled to his own opinion but not his own set of facts on the role SBF has played in bankrolling his political career.”

Think Big PAC says it’s backing candidates aligned with pro-technology policies and opposing those seen as hostile to innovation of artificial intelligence. The group has previously deployed spending to influence Democratic primaries in Ohio.

Bores, a first-term assemblymember representing parts of Manhattan, has recently drawn attention for introducing legislation focused on artificial intelligence safety and accountability at the state level. The bill aims to impose guardrails on advanced AI systems, and that legislative push may have made him a target.

The mailer zeroes in on political spending tied to Bankman-Fried, who was convicted on fraud charges tied to the collapse of FTX. In the 2022 cycle, Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives were among the largest political donors in U.S. politics, supporting candidates across the political spectrum. A CoinDesk analysis found that 196 members of Congress — more than one-third — received campaign support from Bankman-Fried or affiliated executives during that period. But Bores was unusual as one of only two state-level candidates in New York to receive help from the SBF-affiliated PAC (the other being Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado).

The Think Big PAC has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads targeting Bores, including earlier television and digital spots attacking his past work at Palantir. Bores’ campaign pushed back on those ads, sending a cease-and-desist letter accusing the PAC of making “false and defamatory statements” in its ads.

Bores’ campaign has not responded to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

Read more: Congress’ FTX Problem: 1 in 3 Members Got Cash From Crypto Exchange’s Bosses