technology
Tech-linked donations reach $2 million in Colorado House primary
Democratic candidate Manny Rutinel has received at least $2 million from committees backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and crypto executive Chris Larsen. The spending has made the race one of the costliest in the state.
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Democratic candidate Manny Rutinel has received at least $2 million in donations from political committees tied to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and crypto executive Chris Larsen ahead of Tuesday's primary for Colorado's eighth congressional district.
The contributions have made the contest one of the state's most expensive House races. Two super PACs, Somos Pac and You Can Push Back, supplied the bulk of the funds.
Funding sources Schmidt and his wife Wendy gave $2 million to Somos Pac, which then transferred $1.3 million to Rutinel's campaign. You Can Push Back, funded solely by Larsen, contributed nearly $1 million. Rutinel also received more than $265,000 from individual employees at Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Meta, according to a campaign finance tracker by Transformer.
Anthropic employees accounted for $162,000 of that total.
Policy differences Rutinel supported two state bills aimed at regulating artificial intelligence while serving in the Colorado legislature. His opponent, former state representative Shannon Bird, opposed an AI regulation measure, citing concerns over innovation.
The race follows similar spending patterns in recent primaries in New York, North Carolina, and California, where groups aligned with differing views on AI regulation directed millions into congressional contests.
