Nancy Pelosi and Jerrold Nadler are stepping down from Congress, opening two of America's most valuable legislative seats — San Francisco's 11th and Manhattan's 12th districts. Wealthy donors, tech executives, and crypto billionaires are already flooding these primaries with cash, turning campaigns into costly affairs in districts where one in 20 households earns over $1 million.

Candidates include Jack Schlossberg, grandson of JFK, and assemblymen like Alex Bores, who faces attacks from tech-funded PACs over his Palantir past while attracting $3.5 million from crypto billionaire Chris Larsen. In San Francisco, state Sen. Scott Wiener campaigns with drag queens and debates over housing, AI regulation, and even the Great Highway.

These races function as ATM machines for the Democratic Party. Whichever candidate wins will tap deep-pocketed donors, shape AI and immigration policy debates, and gain a national platform that could influence the party's direction for years.