NEW YORK — Rep. Pat Ryan is backing state Assemblymember Alex Bores to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, making him the latest member of the New York delegation to weigh in on one of the state’s most competitive primary elections.

In making his endorsement, obtained exclusively by Blue Light News ahead of its formal announcement, the Hudson Valley Democrat cited the high-profile AI fight that’s become a central theme of the race as a key reason for backing Bores.

“A handful of the richest people in the history of the world are spending millions to defeat him because they’re terrified of a true leader with the courage and the expertise to take them on,” Ryan said in his endorsement, referring to spending against Bores by a pro-artificial intelligence super PAC. “That’s all the proof I need to know I’m on the right side. With courageous leaders like Alex paving the way, we can and we will win this fight.”

Ryan’s rationale for backing Bores underscores just how much the debate over the future of artificial intelligence has dominated the race to represent one of the wealthiest, most highly-educated congressional districts in the country. And Ryan isn’t the only one who based his decision at least in part on Bores’ record on AI.

When the United Federation of Teachers endorsed Bores last week, union president Michael Mulgrew predicted he “won’t back down” as “Big Tech billionaires” try to “silence him.” Our Revolution, a group founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), praised Bores in its endorsement for not being “afraid to name or take on the oligarchy that’s rigging the system against working people.”

The millions of dollars in spending against Bores, an alum-turned-critic of data analytics company Palantir and a sponsor of the AI safety RAISE Act in the state Legislature, has also drawn an influx of money from regulation-friendly AI and tech-affiliated groups to boost him.

In Bores’ first ad of the campaign, which he released Monday morning, he highlights beating “Trump and his megadonors to pass the toughest AI safety law in the nation.”

Bores’ campaign said that both he and Ryan “share a belief that the next Congress must take decisive action to regulate artificial intelligence before this transformative technology outpaces the rules meant to govern it” — a debate that continues to rage on in Washington and globally.

Bores is viewed as one of the top contenders for the 12th District, which covers a large swath of Manhattan. He’s up against Assemblymember Micah Lasher, Kennedy scion Jack Schlossberg and anti-Trump commentator George Conway, as well as a handful of lesser-known challengers. Public polling has been sparse in the race, and internal polls from earlier this year don’t show a clear frontrunner.

Ryan is Bores’ first endorsement from a sitting member of the New York delegation; he previously earned the support of former Reps. Carolyn Maloney and Steve Israel.

Many prominent Democrats have rallied around Lasher, who has a long career in New York politics. That includes Nadler — his former boss — as well as retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez. He also has the backing of Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, both of whom he worked for.

Other members of the New York congressional delegation have not had much of a public presence in the primary. But Schlossberg has the backing of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose support he touted in his first campaign spot.

Ryan, who first won his swing seat in the Hudson Valley in 2022 and has been floated as a contender for higher office, is making an effort to boost his national profile by supporting candidates with public service backgrounds. Bores said in a statement that the Democratic Party will be “lucky” if Ryan is “its new face.”

The top House Democrat guaranteed a victory for his party in the November midterms in a message to lawmakers Monday, seeking to settle nerves after a pair of redistricting-related court decisions threatened to hand several seats to Republicans.

“Democrats will take control of the House of Representatives in November,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries wrote in the “Dear Colleague” letter.

Jeffries also announced a Thursday House Democratic Caucus meeting to discuss “the steps Democrats are taking to advance the largest voter protection effort in modern American history.” Rep. Joe Morelle of New York, the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee, will help lead the briefing.

“Given the highly unfavorable political environment confronting House Republicans, the extremists will not meaningfully benefit from their scandalous gerrymandering scheme,” Jeffries said. “Quite the opposite. Democratic enthusiasm and resolve have grown more intense.”

The Virginia Supreme Court struck down a new voter-approved map Friday that would have created four Democratic-friendly districts. The Supreme Court earlier this month limited the effect of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that gives Republicans leeway to redraw majority-minority districts in the South.

Jeffries called these “blatantly undemocratic court decisions” but added “the failed GOP majority will not be able to gerrymander themselves back into power.”

Tensions between House and Senate Republicans are threatening the GOP’s legislative agenda ahead of the midterms.

The two chambers come back to Capitol Hill this week with a list of legislative priorities they have failed to reach consensus on — and a shrinking time frame to get it done.

Who is at fault for the standoff depends on who you ask.

“We control Washington. When … we don’t get things done, we’re making a huge mistake,” Sen. Thom Tillis said about his House counterparts. “We’ve got to deliver.”

“The House is doing its job,” Rep. Chip Roy said. “Sometimes it gets a little tense, but we’re still getting stuff done. We’re sending it over to the Senate, so we look forward to them doing their job.”

Republicans did get a few wins before the brief recess: The House passed a Senate bill to fund everything in DHS except immigration enforcement after a record-setting 76 day shutdown of the department. Johnson had initially called the bill a “crap sandwich.”

The House and Senate also managed to get on the same page about a budget blueprint for a party-line spending bill President Donald Trump wants on his desk by June 1. Congress is likely to spend most of May focusing on that deadline — especially after the Senate’s proposal included $1 billion in security funding that can be used for at least parts of Trump’s proposed White House ballroom, a project voters have shown little support for.

But other fights are coming up quickly.

Republicans bought themselves through mid-June to figure out a plan on a key government spy power reauthorization that now includes a central bank digital currency provision, which is dead-on-arrival in the Senate.

A ban on CBDC is also a key hang-up in dueling housing affordability proposals between the House and Senate, among other differences between the chambers’ plans (more on this below).

It’s a key frustration for Senate Republicans, who believe getting a housing bill to Trump’s desk would be an easy way to show voters the party is responsive to their affordability anxieties.

“Conversations continue,” House Financial Services Chair French Hill said before the recess. “We just are looking for the path to get a bicameral bill.”

What else we’re watching: 

—GOP’s VIRGINIA WIN MAY MUDDLE BALLROOM TALKS: Republicans’ redistricting win in Virginia might translate into some immediate new headaches for Speaker Mike Johnson’s legislating agenda and Trump’s ballroom security plans. The state Supreme Court’s Friday decision to overturn Democrats’ redrawn maps boosts the GOP’s outlook to hold onto more seats in November’s midterms. But senior House Republicans are concerned those Virginia Republicans with a new lease on life in Congress could present challenges for the GOP’s latest party-line spending plans, four people with knowledge of the conversations told Blue Light News. Johnson must convince those members facing highly competitive races to support the reconciliation bill and pass it by Trump’s June 1 deadline. That may not be easy given a highly debated proposal setting aside $1 billion that may be spent on the White House’s ballroom security.

— HOUSING BILL’S WALL STREET PROVISIONS IN FLUX: House GOP lawmakers have drafted amended housing legislation that would reel in efforts by the Senate to limit the role of Wall Street in housing, according to text obtained by Blue Light News. It strips a much-debated Senate provision requiring single-family homes built by large institutional investors as long-term rentals be sold after seven years to individual homebuyers — which is where much of the House opposition has been focused.

Jordain Carney, Meredith Lee Hill and Katherine Hapgood contributed to this report.