Jack Schlossberg – A crowded Democratic race in Manhattan’s 12th District has shifted from reflexive “Kennedy” optimism to a costly, high-stakes fight over Israel policy and AI regulation—right up to the June 23 primary that decides who can realistically win.
New York’s 12th Congressional District is the kind of place where a storied name has historically felt like a head start. Chelsea’s tech energy and the tourist churn of Times Square sit alongside the wealth of the Upper East and Upper West Sides. But as the Democratic primary approaches on June 23, the race to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler has stopped looking inevitable for Jack Schlossberg—JFK’s grandson. and the candidate still leaning hardest on Camelot nostalgia.
Early polls once showed Schlossberg leading a crowded field. That cushion has thinned. and the contest now reads less like a coronation and more like a warning: in 2026. even a Kennedy has to convince voters that they’ll be delivered results—on Trump’s sweeping changes. on Israel. and on artificial intelligence.
Ahead of the June 23 Democratic primary—the one that largely determines the winner in the heavily Democratic district—Schlossberg has become a competitive figure rather than a clear favorite. Some early polls showed him leading the field to replace Nadler, according to one survey commissioned by a Democratic opponent. That early momentum has slipped. An Emerson College Polling/PIX 11 survey published May 21 showed state Assemblyman Micah Lasher with 22% support and Assemblyman Alex Bores. from the other side of Central Park. with 20% support. Schlossberg trailed third with 11%, and George Conway, a “Never Trump” former Republican cable news commentator, had 10% support.
The race has attracted attention for its Kennedy branding—JFK’s short-lived “Camelot” now more than six decades old. a distant memory against modern American politics involving Trump and AI. But Schlossberg’s candidacy is also entangled in the hard questions voters are asking about competence. experience. and what Washington will actually do next.
Schlossberg, 33, is best known as the son of former Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, President Kennedy’s only surviving child. He gained a large social media following for odd. viral-style antics. including asking whether Second Lady Usha Vance was hotter than his grandmother. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. and posting a video of himself riding a RipStik reciting Lord Byron’s lyric poem. “She walks in beauty.” In another video. he called his uncle Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s failed 2024 presidential campaign an “embarrassment.” Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is Kennedy’s grandson as well, and he is now the health secretary in the Trump administration.
For all the family legacy. critics point to a thin résumé and a campaign struggling to match the seriousness of the moment. Schlossberg holds a degree from Harvard Law School, and—like some relatives—his academic credentials are strong. Yet his government experience is limited: he worked in the State Department while his mother was an ambassador for a few months. He also held temporary jobs in Japan at Rakuten, the e-commerce company, and the Suntory distillery. He spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
His campaign has leaned into revival of his family legacy, using the slogan “Believe in Something Again.” He has pledged not to take PAC money, arguing it inevitably compromises politicians. He has also promised to provide tax deductions for renters.
On Israel, the issue cuts sharply through the district. Schlossberg opposes offensive military aid for Israel but supports funding Israel’s defensive Iron Dome system; he is half-Jewish. Bores and Lasher both support continued U.S. military aid to Israel in a district with a large Jewish population.
New York magazine reported on one of Schlossberg’s campaign events: a March Madness watch party that skewed heavily female and younger.
Prominent donors and endorsements have still poured in. Election filings show contributions to his campaign including “Saturday Night Live” executive producer Lorne Michaels. the musician Paul Simon. and former Secretary of State Antony Blinken. He also received the endorsement of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the 86-year-old Democratic icon who met Schlossberg’s grandfather.
But the coverage has turned more skeptical. The New York Times reported high turnover inside Schlossberg’s campaign and alleged erratic behavior, and Schlossberg’s campaign did not respond to requests for interviews.
The district’s political dynamics may be different from the northeast Democratic sweep Kennedys once benefited from. Basil Smikle. a Columbia University professor and former state Democratic Party executive director. said in an email. “It’s unclear if the Kennedy name will help much. and in some respects. the dynamics favor the two candidates who already represent the area: Bores and Lasher.”.
That tension shows up in how rivals talk about power and how quickly they want to counter Trump’s agenda.
Micah Lasher, 44, is being positioned as the candidate of legislative muscle and oversight. With Lasher running to replace Nadler, his campaign support is deep and politically established: Lasher is endorsed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, former Gov. David Paterson, and a long list of city and state Democratic officials. Nadler’s endorsement base extends into Lasher’s orbit as well; Schlossberg previously worked as an aide to Nadler and later served as a state legislative affairs director for Bloomberg’s City Hall and a policy director under Hochul before running for Assembly in 2024.
In March, Bloomberg, a billionaire who has spent heavily in local elections, funneled $5 million into the Stand for New York super PAC for the primary.
At a diner where Lasher entered shaking hands with patrons. he told readers that voters wanted someone they could trust to fight President Donald Trump more than the Democratic Party has done in the past. After eating breakfast. Lasher said. “I often say to voters that I meet that the Democratic Party needs to locate its spine. and I want to lead the search party.”.
Lasher said he knows how to use legislative processes to make change. citing past work on public health. immigration and voting rights. “I’m not a tech bro. and I’m not a TikTok influencer. ” he said. appearing to reference Bores and Schlossberg. “I am a legislative fighter, and that is the job that we are all running for.”.
He unveiled a roadmap for Democrats called “Project 2026. ” a nod to the Heritage Foundation’s “Project 2025” that offered priorities for the second Trump administration. Lasher said “Project 2026” is a playbook for oversight and investigations Democrats could launch if they take control of the House.
Lasher also said Democrats need an “affirmative agenda” that people can believe in. focused on economic concerns including housing. childcare. healthcare. jobs and wages. “Voters shouldn’t have to choose between experience and know-how and having a fighting spirit,” he said. “And with me, they don’t have to make that choice.”.
Meanwhile, Alex Bores is trying to flip the question from experience to technological readiness—arguing that this district’s future depends on someone who understands how to govern in the real-world tech economy.
In an interview conducted over coffee near Grand Central Terminal. Bores. 35. argued his tech industry experience makes him the best-qualified candidate. Bores touts a computer science degree, the first of any Democrat elected in the state Assembly. He worked at Palantir Technologies before having a fallout over its contract with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“This is a race about who is best fit to serve the voters of this district going forward, not about who comes from the most storied family or the most storied political machine or whoever the establishment is going with,” Bores said. “It’s about who can put a forward-looking vision.”
Bores points to his hallmark 2025 Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act. which requires AI developers to create and publish safety protocols and allows civil action against developers who don’t submit required reporting or make false statements. He frames it as one of the strongest state-level regulations of artificial intelligence.
The AI argument has quickly become national. President Donald Trump issued an executive order seeking to override states’ AI legislation to make sure the field would be “free to innovate without cumbersome regulation.” In the race, super PAC money has piled on.
A super PAC associated with OpenAI’s leaders pledged to spend millions on attack ads against Bores. Leading the Future. a super PAC funded by tech billionaire Trump donors Marc Andreessen. Ben Horowitz and Greg Brockman. announced in November that it would first target Bores. The Public First super PAC associated with OpenAI rival Anthropic. which has appeared more supportive of regulation. has contributed heavily toward Bores.
Bores said the outside spending mirrors the political stakes. “In a race where we’re all promising to fight Donald Trump,” he said, “I am the only one that Donald Trump’s mega-donors are spending millions of dollars against.”
He also said AI has local consequences. The district has a high concentration of white-collar workers, and Bores said many are at risk of AI replacing jobs.
Our Revolution, the progressive organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, endorsed Bores. Joseph Geevarghese, who heads Our Revolution, said the race is a proxy war between different factions of the tech industry. Geevarghese said “big tech oligarchs” don’t want AI regulation and see Bores as a threat because he would implement consumer guardrails on an emerging industry. He added. “Ultimately. this is about the grassroots versus tech titans. ” and said the “level of outside spending. especially from tech interests” shows why the race is significant. “Again. this is an area that we don’t have a strong leader in Congress who has shown an ability to hold big tech accountable.”.
George Conway enters as the disruptive wildcard—partly because he doesn’t fit the usual mold for a Democratic primary challenger, and partly because he has built a political identity around fighting Trump.
Conway. a 62-year-old former Republican lawyer who gained notoriety on cable news and social media as a “Never Trump. ” entered the Manhattan race in January. He told the New York political news outlet City & State. “I just feel that I haven’t done enough. ” and said he believed the moment required people “who are very laser-focused on fighting autocracy.” His campaign focus appears to be safeguarding democracy. His campaign website also said Trump has made Americans’ lives worse. including rising costs and healthcare due to cuts to the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.
Conway’s campaign did not respond to interview requests.
By moving into the mayor’s official residence, Conway has also found himself at the intersection of local politics. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani is listed in state Board of Elections records as a Democratic voter in the district, but he has yet to endorse anyone in the race.
Edits are now being written at street level, diner tables and campaign stops, not in broad statements about dynasties. And the numbers—Schlossberg at 11% in the Emerson College Polling/PIX 11 survey published May 21—suggest voters may be less hypnotized by legacy than by the question of who will actually show up with a plan.
The campaign’s competing narratives line up like competing promises: Schlossberg betting on a revived Democratic family brand while emphasizing pledges like “Believe in Something Again. ” no PAC money. and renter tax deductions; Lasher arguing he can locate a “spine” and deliver legislative fights through “Project 2026”; Bores pitching forward-looking tech governance through the 2025 Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act; and Conway offering a “Never Trump” brand aimed at fighting autocracy.
As June 23 approaches, the district’s longtime Democratic leaning will still make the nomination the main prize. But who wins the nomination may now depend less on Camelot memories and more on whether voters decide that experience. legislative reach. and AI oversight—or Israel policy alignment—matters more than a family name.
Jack Schlossberg Jerry Nadler Micah Lasher Alex Bores George Conway Democratic primary June 23 AI regulation RAISE Act Trump executive order Iron Dome Israel military aid Palantir Emerson College Polling PIX 11