Only 12% of Alex Bores’ donations come from NY-12

Only 12% of the money contributed to Alex Bores’ congressional campaign actually come from donors living in the Manhattan district he’s running to represent. That’s a far lower rate of local contributions compared to his top rivals in the 12th Congressional District, a review of candidates’ fundraising filings with the Federal Elections Commission shows. And while it’s notable for an Assembly member who represents the district, it underscores the national interest in the New York contest. 

The congressional district, which includes all of Midtown Manhattan and the Upper West and East Sides, is one of the wealthiest in the country, with investment managers and law firm partners routinely donating to political campaigns from coast to coast. 

Yet the vast majority of Bores’ $2.2 million total donations come from somewhere else. Sixteen percent of the money he’s brought in has come from Manhattan, compared to 41% for Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg and 68% for Assembly Member Micah Lasher, who is backed by outgoing Rep. Jerry Nadler. New York City Council Member Erik Bottcher, who also represented the district, had 62% of donations originating from Manhattan – though he dropped out of the race in December to run in a special election for the state Senate, which he won in early February. 

Widen the lens to New York City, and the picture does not change much: just 22% of Bores’ donors are from the five boroughs, and only about a quarter live in New York state. Bores got more love from the Golden State. Almost half of the total money was raised from California addresses. 

Berkeley alone, with a population of around 122,000, accounted for 17% of his total haul. Donations from Manhattan, with around 1.7 million in population, made up 16% of total donations. The pattern reflects Bores’ professional roots in the world of tech and artificial intelligence and West Coast networks like the “effective altruism” community.

The Bores campaign shows no signs of reducing its donor efforts in California. On Friday, the campaign hosted a fundraiser in San Francisco. “The worst people in America are spending $10 million against Alex. He is raising money from ordinary Americans wherever he can get it to fight back," said Alyssa Cass, a spokesperson for the campaign, in a statement, referring to the AI-industry-funded super PAC that’s taken aim at Bores. Another AI-industry funded super PAC that prefers Bores’ regulatory approach has also formed and is spending to boost him. That super PAC, Dream NYC, was filed with a Washington, D.C. address.

Of Bores’ donations that did come from the district, 5% were from current or former employees of Palantir, the controversial data and analytics company where Bores once worked. 

Of the four campaigns, Lasher’s has the highest percentage of donations coming from the district, Manhattan, New York City and the state. “Micah is a massive New York patriot. But yeah, we’re gonna get crushed in those Berkeley election districts," Lasher campaign manager Caroline Crowell said about the disparity. 

Schlossberg has also raised funds from a national donor base, even having comedian David Letterman at a fundraiser in San Francisco. A campaign spokesperson bragged about the support: “Jack has people-powered donations from all 50 states, and NY-12.”

After opening his committee in October, Bores led the field in fundraising as of the beginning of the year, and raised more than $260,000 from addresses in the district – a total in line with his top competitors. 

"Alex has raised substantial amounts of money from Manhattan and NY-12 donors because of his deep roots in the district – the second-highest aggregate amount of any candidate (currently) in the race, in a shorter period of time,” spokesperson Alyssa Cass said when asked about the out-of-district donations. 

The 12th Congressional District primary is shaping up into a high-profile contest with 12 Democrats in the running. Bores reported raising $2.2 million, Lasher raised $1.4 million, and investor Alan Pardee and Schlossberg have both raised $1.1 million. However, over 60% of Pardee’s contributions are self-financed, through personal donations and loans to his own campaign. Another contender, George Conway, hasn’t reported campaign contributions to the FEC yet.