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Kennedy Heir, Antifa-Lover And Former Techie Among Candidates Wrapping Wild Primary To Replace Jerry Nadler

Kennedy Heir, Antifa-Lover And Former Techie Among Candidates Wrapping Wild Primary To Replace Jerry Nadler

(SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images, Roy Rochlin/Getty Images, Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust, Rob Kim/Getty Images)

Nicole Silverio
June 21, 2026 1:35 PM ET

The primary campaign to replace Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler that concludes Tuesday has featured a colorful cast of characters that included former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway’s ex-husband, a Kennedy heir and a former Palantir data guru.

Although Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway and Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, are both big media personalities with political connections, their chances of winning Tuesday’s primary in New York’s 12th district appear slim. Polls showed the race as a tossup between Democratic New York state Reps. Micah Lasher and Alex Bores, who previously worked for Palantir.

The race includes eight candidates who would be overwhelmingly favored in November, given that the 12th district is largely made up of Democrats. The candidates engaged in heated spats over their positions on artificial intelligence (AI), their family ties and their plans to take on President Donald Trump.

Nadler, 78, announced in September 2025 that he would not seek reelection after serving 34 years in Congress.

Schlossberg entered the race in November 2025, stating that America is at a “turning point.” However, his mother, Caroline Kennedy, feared her son’s candidacy would make him “a target for violent haters,” the New York Post reported in November 2025. Ahead of the 2024 election, Schlossberg served as a political correspondent for Vogue, where he described himself as a “fun, wacky guy” and “a silly goose who’s trying, just trying, to get the truth out there” in a July 2024 interview with the fashion magazine.

Kennedy and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed Schlossberg. His list of campaign priorities includes enshrining abortion protections into law, allowing Planned Parenthood to accept Medicaid, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and providing transgender procedures to any person who supposedly needs the procedure, according to his campaign website, “Jack for New York.”

The Kennedy heir became well-known for his bizarre social media posts, including an X post where he suggested that second lady Usha Vance is “way hotter” than his late grandmother, Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

“True or false: Usha Vance is way hotter than Jackie O,” Schlossberg wrote on Jan. 20, 2025.

Schlossberg also claimed in April 2025 that Vice President J.D. Vance “killed” Pope Francis and asked Republican Ohio gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy to “be his dad.” He has posted shirtless videos of himself to Instagram and TikTok.

@jack.schlossbergBreakups are always mutual — my dad’s maxim — Going tbrough it rn guys !♬ original sound – Jack Schlossberg

Conway, an anti-Trump lawyer, has centered his campaign on removing Trump from office and “defeating Trumpism.” He notably wore a shirt bearing the words “I am Antifa” at a “No Kings” rally in October 2025. He frequently railed against Trump on his podcast, “George Conway Explains It All,” which is published by The Bulwark.

The anti-Trump lawyer has openly cried or held back tears on camera. He wept during The Bulwark’s “The Illegal News with Sarah Longwell” while he claimed Trump was attacking democracy and the rule of law.

“We’re all in this together and this is a fight for so much more than profits for partner, this is a fight for democracy, this is a fight for the rule of law. And some people just don’t give a shit and that makes me angry,” Conway said at the time.

Conway also posted a video of himself singing a song to celebrate the acquittal of a former Justice Department employee who threw a footlong Subway sandwich at a law enforcement agent.

“I threw the sandwich, but I did not throw the condiments; I threw the sandwich, but I didn’t throw the condiments,” Conway sang while playing a guitar with a “Republican Voters Against Trump” sticker affixed to the instrument. “All around Washington D.C., they’re trying to track me down. They say they want to bring me in guilty for the spilling of some mayonnaise, for wasting all the dijon, but I say, I threw the sandwich, but I swear it had bad provolone I threw the sandwich, and they say it is a capicola offense.”

Conway changed his residence from Bethesda, Maryland, to Manhattan and registered as a Democrat so he could run in the race.

Conway co-founded the Lincoln Project, a political action committee (PAC) made up of anti-Trump conservatives and former Republicans. The PAC tried to prevent Trump from winning reelection in 2020 and defeat candidates who supported him.

The race’s current frontrunner, Lasher, received endorsements from Nadler, Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Democratic New York Gov. David Paterson, according to his campaign website. His platform includes “fighting back against Trumpism,” allowing children to undergo transgender surgeries and procedures and fighting climate change.

Bores received endorsements from several unions, including the New York Nurses Association, the United Federation of Teachers and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, according to his campaign website.

During a debate hosted by NY1, most of the candidates spent their time attacking Bores, a former Palantir employee who has largely campaigned on adding safeguards to AI. Bores highlighted his work on AI while at Palantir, arguing that Congress is “missing the boat” on regulating it. Lasher suggested that Bores would be beholden to the big tech players who supported his campaign.

“Alex only wants to tell you half the story, about one AI company that’s spending millions to defeat him, and that’s bad,” Lasher said. “But he’s not telling you the story about Anthropic, which is spending a million dollars to elect him, or a crypto billionaire who is spending $3.5 million to send him to Congress.”

Bores has repeatedly denied these accusations, pointing out that he authored one of the nation’s most strictest AI safety laws, the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act.

“This race started with AI megadonors pledging $10 million to stop me because they were afraid after I passed the strongest AI safety law in the country,” Bores said in a statement, according to WRAL News. “Since then, everyone who supports AI regulation and safety — from teachers to tech workers, from AI safety advocates to progressive activists — has united to take the other side. This isn’t one company versus another, this is one ideology versus another: regulate the powerful and protect people, or don’t.”

Schlossberg also argued that Bores’ proposed AI regulation “is a dream come true” for tech companies.

“With friends like these, who needs Republicans?” Bores said in response to the attacks.

Lasher accused Schlossberg of being on the debate stage because of nepotism, which Schlossberg pushed back against. “As someone who grew up enormously admiring the legacy of service in your family, Jack, I say this somewhat sheepishly and mournfully, but when we talk about the reasons that each of us are on this stage, I’m on this stage because of nearly two decades in public service,” Lasher said.

“I have made my way here myself,” Schlossberg replied. “Do not ever invoke my family name to try to denigrate who I am.”

Schlossberg argued he is the best candidate to energize younger voters. Conway’s support is mainly among voters ages 60 and above, while the support for Lasher and Bores spans across all age groups, according to Emerson College polling. Conway called on congressional Democrats to remove Trump from office.

The most recent polling found Lasher and Bores in a tight matchup. An Emerson College poll from May found Lasher leading with 22% of support, while Bores came in second place at 20%. A Tavern Research survey from mid-May found Bores leading with 20%, and Schlossberg coming in second at 17%.

Nadler had been a consistent thorn in Trump’s side during both of his presidential terms. As the then-chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Nadler led both impeachment proceedings against Trump and launched sweeping probes into Trump’s campaign, businesses and administration. He demanded the full report be released by former FBI Director Robert Mueller on alleged 2016 Russian election interference, which has since been debunked.

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