(DCNF)—Democratic New York state Rep. Micah Lasher defeated Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway and Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg Tuesday in his bid to replace Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler.
Schlossberg and Conway were not able to capitalize on their political connections and media notoriety in the New York 12th District primary. Lasher narrowly won in a tight matchup against Democratic New York state Rep. Alex Bores, who previously worked for Palantir and campaigned on a platform that included placing guardrails on artificial intelligence (AI), according to Decision Desk HQ and NBC News.
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.
The candidates engaged in heated spats on the debate stage Thursday. Lasher accused Bores of being beholden to the Big Tech players who supported his campaign. Bores repeatedly denied those accusations, saying that he authored one of the nation’s 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, a North Carolina-based outlet. “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.”
Several unions, including the New York Nurses Association, the United Federation of Teachers and the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, endorsed Bores.
Schlossberg also argued that Bores’ proposed AI regulation “is a dream come true” for tech companies.
Lasher accused Schlossberg of being on the debate stage because of nepotism, which Schlossberg denied. “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 entered the race in November 2025 and received endorsements from former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and his mother, Caroline Kennedy. His list of campaign priorities included 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 made several bizarre social media posts, including one X post where he suggested second lady Usha Vance was “way hotter” than his late grandmother, Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
Conway, an anti-Trump lawyer, centered his campaign on removing President Donald Trump from office and “defeating Trumpism.” He co-founded The Lincoln Project a political action committee (PAC) consisting of former Republicans that tried to prevent Trump and his supporters from wining elections.
The anti-Trump activist wore a shirt bearing the words “I am Antifa” at a “No Kings” rally in October 2025.
Conway also posted a video of himself singing a song to celebrate the acquittal of a former Justice Department employee in Washington, D.C., who threw a footlong Subway sandwich at a law enforcement agent in August 2025. He shed tears when discussing Trump on a podcast in April 2025.
“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. His supporters were largely 60 years and older, while the support for Lasher and Bores spanned across all age groups, according to Emerson College polling taken before primary voting was concluded.
Nadler was a constant thorn in Trump’s side during his final years in Congress. 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.
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