Funded by Anthropic, Super PAC Begins Ad Campaign to Support Rep. Valerie Foushee

According to FEC filings, the Jobs and Democracy PAC reported around $280,000 in spending on behalf of Rep. Valerie Foushee on Feb. 21, 2026. The funds were used to buy TV ads in the North Carolina Fourth District Congressional race, where Foushee is being challenged by Durham County Commissioner Nida Allam in the Democratic primary [1].

Anthropic has donated $20 million to a nonprofit called Public First Action that was established in Nov. 2025. That 501(c)(4) organization runs Super PACs called the Jobs and Democracy PAC, aimed at Democrats, and Defending Our Values PAC, aimed at Republicans [2][3][4].

Foushee is a co-chair of a new House Democratic Commission on AI and the Innovation Economy. Another member of the committee, Rep. Josh Gottheimer, has also received support from the Anthropic-backed Jobs and Democracy PAC.

In Apex, a town on the southeast edge of the Fourth District, opposition has been growing to the construction of a new data center. Around 250 residents recently signed a letter asking Allam and Foushee to oppose the project [5]. Allam agreed to the request.

Foushee often receives campaign contributions from industries she is tasked with regulating. She serves on Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, but has taken contributions from three railroad companies (BNSF, CSX, and Norfolk Southern). Foushee sits on the Subcommittee on Energy and has accepted donations from Entergy, a fossil fuel company. She serves on the Subcommittee on Aviation and the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics but has taken contributions from airlines (Delta Air Lines), space (Blue Origin), and weapons companies (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics, and more) [6].

Allam does not accept corporate PAC money. Her candidacy has garnered support from Sen. Bernie Sanders, Justice Democrats, Working Families Party, and others. Foushee has been endorsed by Gov. Josh Stein, former Gov. Roy Cooper, and almost all major figures within the North Carolina Democratic Party establishment.

The Fourth District race is a rematch of the 2022 primary between Allam and Foushee, which was the most expensive primary in state history. In 2022, Foushee benefitted from around $4 million in outside expenditures by pro-Israel groups like AIPAC and pro-crypto organizations like Protect Our Future PAC.

Work Cited

1. "Anthropic is Donating $20 Million to Public First Action." Anthropic, 12 Feb. 2026, https://www.anthropic.com/news/donate-public-first-action.

2. "Chris Stewart, Brad Carson Announce New Organization and Bipartisan Super PACs to Support AI Safeguards." Public First Action, 25 Nov. 2025, https://publicfirstaction.us/news/chris-stewart-brad-carson-announce-new-organization-and-bipartisan-super-pacs-to-support-ai-safeguards.

3. "Foushee for Congress" Federal Election Commission, 2025-26, https://www.fec.gov/data/receipts/?committee_id=C00794727&two_year_transaction_period=2026&data_type=processed.

4. "Jobs and Democracy PAC" Federal Election Commission, 23 Feb. 2026, https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00928374/1949905/se.

5. "Signed Open Letter on AI Data Centers to NC-04 Congressional Candidates", Apex Residents, https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vT04t8dopMLqhK7qfCR__W17nRQXabKU5GuB2QcxVFHXm9jXByZp6eGI-G1JiPjkiqgoqvzd-v_jYGI/pub

6. "The Corporate Money Taking Over 2026." Punchbowl News, 19 Feb. 2026, https://punchbowl.news/article/washington/pac-2026/.