An under-the-radar Democratic primary race on Tuesday for a House seat in North Carolina may offer the country’s first political test of the war in Iran.
The election features some of the tensions over political money that are set to define this year’s midterm elections — and those strains are on vivid display in the final days of campaigning.
Nida Allam, a younger progressive challenging Representative Valerie Foushee, released an ad on Monday in which she promises to be a “proudly uncompromised, pro-peace leader in Washington.”
In a direct-to-camera advertisement, she attacks Ms. Foushee for taking donations from defense contractors and a super PAC indirectly funded by the artificial intelligence company Anthropic, whose model Claude was reportedly used to help plan the strikes on Iran.
“I have opposed these forever wars my entire career,” Ms. Allam says in the ad. “If you believe we need to do things differently, and you, like me, are praying for peace and demanding accountability, please consider voting for me.”
Ms. Foushee disputed the characterization of her views, citing her longstanding support for a congressional war powers resolution that would rein in President Trump’s authority to wage war in Iran. “I am confident that voters resonate with my work in Congress rather than my opponent’s last-minute misinformation about outside spending,” she said in a statement.
In recent weeks, the primary race in North Carolina’s Fourth District, which includes Durham, has transformed into an unusual showdown of interest groups focused on two of the most divisive issues for Democrats: artificial intelligence and America’s support for Israel.
Supporting Ms. Foushee is Jobs and Democracy PAC, which was started as a reaction to the money pouring into politics from leaders in the A.I. industry who wanted to ensure light regulation of their business. The PAC is backed by a nonprofit group funded by Anthropic, whose leaders generally support more safeguards than those from OpenAI and other A.I. giants.
And supporting Ms. Allam is a super PAC called American Priorities that was started as a progressive response to the cash being spent by groups tied to AIPAC, the powerful pro-Israel lobbying organization.
Ms. Foushee, 69, who sits on an A.I. commission in Congress, has benefited from about $1.6 million in independent spending from the Jobs and Democracy PAC, according to Federal Election Commission records. Last month, another $600,000 in spending on her behalf was disclosed from Article One PAC, a new super PAC with limited information available about it. Ms. Allam has sought to make an issue out of Ms. Foushee’s support from these super PACs.
At the same time, Ms. Allam, 32, a member of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, has drawn about $1 million in independent spending from American Priorities. That super PAC announced last month that it planned to spend at least $10 million on at least 10 more races this cycle.
American Priorities was started as a counterweight to the United Democracy Project, a well-funded super PAC backed by AIPAC.
Theodore Schleifer is a Times reporter covering billionaires and their impact on the world.
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