Anthropic employees flood Mass. lawmakers with donations

As lawmakers on Beacon Hill wrestled last month over how far Massachusetts should go in regulating artificial intelligence companies, state Senator Mike Rush made a consequential move.

The West Roxbury Democrat offered an amendment to the Senate’s sweeping economic development package that would require larger AI companies to submit to stringent independent safety evaluations — a provision, supported by AI giant Anthropic, that ultimately passed the chamber.

Now, as Rush fights for his seat in Tuesday’s primary election, he’s getting some direct help from Anthropic employees. Over the course of the last three weeks, donors who identified as working for Anthropic have donated nearly $7,000 to Rush’s campaign as he looks to fend off a challenge from his left in attorney Persis Yu.

He’s not alone in getting such largesse. More than a dozen Democratic legislators have benefitted from a burst of donations from Anthropic staff this month, a Globe review of campaign finance records found.

Between Aug. 7 and Wednesday, Anthropic employees collectively poured almost $123,000 into the campaign coffers of sitting Massachusetts politicians, the state Senate Democratic leaders’ political action committee, and the state Democratic Party, which pulled in $25,000 alone, data show.

The money is flowing in as Beacon Hill lawmakers negotiate that bill that could set some of the country’s most rigorous rules for AI development. There’s also a wider national battle waging between Anthropic and its chief competitor, OpenAI. Both companies have turned to local lobbyists to help push their priorities, though records don’t indicate that OpenAI workers are similarly trying to beef up lawmakers’ campaign accounts.

Each company backed the Senate’s broader effort to put new guardrails on AI development, but they differed on how far those rules should go.

While OpenAI wanted to bring the Senate’s plan in line with existing laws in states such as California, New York, and Illinois, Anthropic wanted state lawmakers to tighten safety measures even further through Rush’s proposed language.

While Anthropic ultimately prevailed in the Senate, with the bill now in closed-door negotiations between House and Senate leaders, there’s no guarantee the language that emerges will look the same as the one senators approved.

So about those donations: The tens of thousands of dollars in contributions all come from a dozen different employees, many of whom donated the same amounts on the same days to the same candidates.

Much of all the money that’s poured into legislators’ campaign coffers came on the same day — Aug. 12, when 10 employees donated a combined $63,428.

“Employees’ donations are personal and not company-directed,” Danielle Cohen, an Anthropic spokesperson, said in an email.

The biggest recipients have those with the most power to influence the legislation. Senate President Karen Spilka, House Speaker Ron Mariano and state Senator Barry Finegold each took in almost $10,000 from Anthropic staff since Aug. 7. House budget chief Aaron Michlewitz received almost $9,000, followed by Rush, state Senator William Brownsberger, and state Representative Mark Cusack, who took in just under $7,000 apiece.

Finegold and Michlewitz are among the negotiators on the economic development bill.

Donors also handed out checks to some of the candidates in each chamber who are facing competitive primaries, including Brownsberger and Rush. In the House, state Representative John Lawn, facing a primary from Newtown City Councilor Alison Leary, took in almost $5,000 from Anthropic employees. Both Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll also benefited from the spending spree, pulling in exactly $5,000 apiece.

LET’S UN-PAC THAT: In a matter of days, a recently created super PAC has put more than $100,000 into state Representative Marjorie Decker’s reelection bid, a breathtaking sum for a state House race.

The so-called Progressive Cambridge IE PAC reported dumping almost $113,000 into digital ads, mailer, and mobile billboards as Decker vies for the Democratic nomination against Evan MacKay, the second-time candidate who lost to Decker by 41 votes after a recount two years ago in the left-leaning district.

The PAC has only reported three donors so far. Two service employee unions — SEIU Local 509 and the SEIU state council — put a combined $35,000 into it, and another super PAC, the so-called Boston Opportunity IE PAC, donated $85,000. The Boston Opportunity PAC has been largely dormant for years: It hasn’t reported raising any money since 2022, and its biggest backer is also a union, the United Association of Journeyman Apprentices Of The Pipe Fitting Industry, which donated $100,000 to the group in 2021.

To put all that money into perspective, MacKay has reported spending roughly $60,000 total so far this year. They’ve likewise gotten a hand from an outside group, albeit on a (much) smaller scale: The Massachusetts Teachers Association’s super PAC put $8,000 behind their bid.

Decker isn’t the only potentially vulnerable incumbent getting a last-minute assist from a super PAC, either. The Citizens for an Affordable Massachusetts IE PAC, which was created in July, dropped more than $43,000 on mailers and digital ads boosting state Senator Nick Collins, who’s facing a challenge from the Boston Mayor Michelle Wu-backed Latoya Gayle and another challenger, Juwan Skeens.

Among that group’s top funders: Cox Engineering, a Randolph-based mechanical contractor ... and yet another super PAC, this one with ties to former Boston mayor Martin J. Walsh.

Former Boston mayor Marty Walsh on the campaign trail.Daniel Sarch for The Boston Glob

WALSH WATCH: Speaking of Walsh, the former US Labor secretary is wading into another Democratic primary beyond Boston’s borders.

Walsh is endorsing Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan in the Democratic primary pitting her against challenger David Solet, the Cambridge Democrat who served alongside and under Ryan for more than 20 years in the DA’s office.

Ryan “is a strong, common-sense leader who never forgets who she works for,” Walsh said in a statement shared by Ryan’s campaign. “She stands up for victims and working families, holds violent offenders accountable, and understands that first-time offenders deserve a chance to get their lives back on track.”

Walsh has thrown his weight around in a handful of races across the state this year. He’s backing his former City Hall chief of staff, Dan Koh, in the open Sixth Congressional District race, and Brownsberger as the Belmont Democrat faces a challenge from former Wu aide Daniel Lander.

Walsh also endorsed former “Bachelorette” contestant Chris Lambton in the open race on Cape Cod to replace outgoing state Representative Chris Flanagan, who is facing federal criminal charges.

ROUND 2 FOR KRAFT VS. WU? This time last year, Josh Kraft was fighting for his political life in a longshot bid to unseat Wu. But the disastrous end to that campaign hasn’t stopped Kraft from getting involved in this year’s closely watched races — often opposite Wu, the Globe’s Jon Chesto and Shirley Leung reported Thursday.

The longtime nonprofit leader and son of billionaire Patriots owner Robert Kraft has been maxing out on donations: $1,000 each to Brownsberger and Collins, the state senators who are being challenged by candidates Wu is endorsing. Kraft also gave $1,000 to Linda Champion’s bid for Suffolk County District Attorney as she tries to topple incumbent Kevin Hayden, who has been endorsed by Wu.

State Senate candidate Latoya Gayle.John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

MAKING A WU-TURN: ‘I’m not a puppet.’ For Lander and Gayle, Wu’s backing against state Senate incumbents comes with boost — and tough questions. by Niki Griswold and Chris Van Buskirk, The Boston Globe: At forums or debates, Lander and Gayle have had to vouch for their independence, and even motivations for simply running. Collins, a South Boston Democrat, has used Wu’s endorsements as something like fodder, arguing voters don’t want a “blind loyalist” to City Hall. Business leaders have questioned whether Wu’s influence in Brownsberger’s district outside Boston is a help or perhaps a hindrance.

SOCIAL CONSTRUCT: Markey taps online influencers as Moulton hits on age and tech by Ella Adams and Katie Castellani, State House News Service: Influencers are taking to social media to vouch for US Senator Ed Markey in his reelection campaign — in both paid and unpaid ways — as Representative Seth Moulton continues to use the 80-year-old incumbent’s age as a talking point in his attempts to unseat Markey.

Massachusetts climate chief Melissa Hoffer.Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff

GREENER PASTURES: Healey’s Cabinet-level climate chief to resign, taking job leading Vermont law school by Samantha J. Gross, The Boston Globe: Melissa Hoffer, a former Biden administration official whom Healey tapped as the nation’s first Cabinet-level climate chief, is leaving her administration to lead the Vermont Law and Graduate School as its next president. She will begin her new role on Dec. 1, the school announced Thursday.

BURSTING A HOUSING BUBBLE: MassHousing report confirms fraud findings in Spotlight investigation, says exec lied about conflict by Joey Flechas and Gordon Russell, The Boston Globe: Former MassHousing executive Tony Richards II repeatedly lied about his professional relationship with two real estate developers who sold him his home and later received grants from him, according to an investigative report released Thursday.

PRIMARY QUESTION: Secretary of State William F. Galvin — who oversees the state’s elections, including Tuesday’s primary — said he isn’t taking a public position on a ballot question that would fundamentally change that very type of election.

But he had some thoughts. The proposal to implement a so-called top-two system — in which the top two vote getters in a state primary would advance to the general election regardless of their party — would likely “wipe out” third parties in Massachusetts, Galvin warned. The system is pitched as a way to make primaries less ideological and enhance voter’s rights, he said, but at least in California, which uses it for statewide elections, the results have been “mixed.”

“I don’t think anyone is terribly satisfied with what we currently have,” the Brighton Democrat said of the state’s primary system. But, he said, there are heavy questions left to be answered. “Is it going to be more complicated? Is it going to restrict groups that might have been able to run more as third parties? Those are all questions.”