By Joseph Pisani

When longtime New York Democratic Rep. Jerry Nadler announced he was retiring, he said he wanted to make room for the next generation. It worked -- a little too well.

More than a dozen candidates jumped at the chance to succeed him, including a grandson of President John F. Kennedy and the ex-husband of Kellyanne Conway, a former campaign manager to President Trump. And that's just the Democrats.

Nearly as many Republicans and independents joined the crowded race to represent New York's 12th Congressional District -- a chunk of Manhattan from Union Square to the top of Central Park that is home to some of the world's wealthiest people and most powerful companies.

Since the district is heavily Democratic, like much of New York City, the June 23 primary is the real battle. Whichever Democrat prevails then will likely breeze to victory in the November general election. The party is counting on retaining that seat, as Republicans try to defend a narrow majority in the House.

Why such a hot seat?

A congressional contest with no incumbent to beat is hard to find. It is a rare chance to go up against a new competitor -- not that it is likely to help the Republicans in the race. As of mid-May, six Republicans were registered for the June 23 primary, among them corporate lawyer Caroline Shinkle and Massimiliano Zappone, who ran mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa's Bronx campaign. They haven't raised much money and are considered extreme long shots.

In this deep-blue district, a Democrat who wins can potentially enjoy decades of job security. The 78-year-old Nadler, who helped lead the first impeachment of Trump, was elected 17 times and served more than 30 years.

"It's really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Charles Tien, a political-science professor at Hunter College.

So far, most of the focus has been on four Democratic candidates who are in two camps: those with a bit of star power and those with a degree of political experience.

There are Jack Schlossberg, the Kennedy grandson who became a viral sensation by posting TikToks of himself shirtless and dancing, and George Conway, a cable-news fixture who co-founded the anti-Trump group Lincoln Project. In the latter are Micah Lasher, a New York assemblyman who once worked for Nadler, and Alex Bores, another local assemblyman and former software engineer.

An Emerson College poll released May 21 gave Lasher the lead with 22% of the vote, followed by Bores with 20%. Schlossberg and Conway followed with 11% and 10%, respectively.

All the Democrats have promised the same thing: that they will stand up to Trump and oppose his policies. Conway, 62 years old, has talked of impeaching Trump and removing him from office -- "I've been fighting this man for years," he said at a recent forum.

Schlossberg, 33, has the political pedigree -- but not much experience to back up the Kennedy connection. He is campaigning on lowering costs, protecting the environment and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. California Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker and longtime Kennedy ally, has endorsed him. At a recent candidate forum, Schlossberg was a no-show, disappointing two young women who said they were there to see him. Those running the forum said he had a scheduling issue.

Bores, 35, is the candidate some in the artificial-intelligence industry are determined to defeat. Elected to the state assembly in 2022, he once worked for Palantir Technologies, the data-analytics company that for years did secretive government work on counterterrorism and more recently became an AI power player.

Now he is campaigning on a promise to aggressively regulate AI, making him a target of negative ads from some in the industry, including a co-founder of OpenAI. Others -- mainly Anthropic -- have backed him. Former Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who lost a bitter primary to Nadler in 2022 after their district lines were redrawn, has endorsed Bores.

Lasher, 44, has followed a traditional New York City path into politics: working up the party ranks. Before being elected assemblyman in 2024, he worked for Gov. Kathy Hochul, billionaire former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Nadler.

Nadler endorsed him, as did Bloomberg, who has given $5 million to a pro-Lasher super PAC, according to financial-disclosure filings.

A deep-pocketed district

Whoever wins, Bloomberg and a host of other ultrarich people who live in the district will be constituents . The newly elected member of Congress will have opportunities to connect with affluent donors and those who wield tremendous influence, publicly and privately.

The district's median household income is $153,000, the most for any congressional district in New York and fifth in the country. Its boundaries include neighborhoods such as Midtown, Chelsea and the Upper East and West sides. Landmarks and cultural institutions New York is known for -- such as the Empire State Building, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Broadway theaters and Lincoln Center -- are stacked throughout.

"Everyone knows this is like one of the gems of civilized society," said Cameron Kasky, who was running in the race before he dropped out in January to take a job with a congressman. Kasky, an advocate against gun violence and a survivor of the high-school shooting in Parkland, Fla., said he wasn't surprised by the stiff competition.

"Everybody wants this seat," he said. "I would find it harder to explain how somebody could not want it."

Write to Joseph Pisani at joseph.pisani@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 24, 2026 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT)

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