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NY-12 Democratic Primary

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NY-12 2026 Democratic Primary: Results and Candidate Comparison for Nadler's Open Seat

Micah Lasher won the Democratic primary in NY-12. This rundown keeps the pre-primary comparison as background on the open-seat race to succeed Jerry Nadler.

The comparison below is retained as post-primary reference material: it summarizes the candidates, positions, endorsements, and issues voters were weighing before the race was decided.

Primary Result

What happened in the June 23 primary?

Micah Lasher won the Democratic primary in NY-12. This rundown keeps the pre-primary comparison as background on the open-seat race to succeed Jerry Nadler.

Overview

What is the background?

The June 23, 2026, Democratic primary in New York's 12th Congressional District was an open-seat contest to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, who has held the seat since 1992 ¹². The field included nine Democrats: Assembly Members Alex Bores and Micah Lasher, social-media personality Jack Schlossberg, attorney George Conway, public-health researcher Nina Schwalbe, civil-rights attorney Laura Dunn, IT engineer Chris Diep, litigator Patrick Timmins, and Micah Bergdale ¹³.

When was the NY-12 Democratic primary?

What is the background?

Tuesday, June 23, 2026 ¹.

Why is the seat open?

What is the background?

Incumbent Rep. Jerry Nadler, first elected in 1992, announced he would not seek re-election after 17 terms in Congress. Nadler endorsed Micah Lasher on February 9, 2026 ¹⁴.

What neighborhoods make up NY-12?

What is the background?

NY-12 covers Manhattan's Upper East Side, Upper West Side, and Midtown, as well as Central Park. It contains the largest Jewish population of any congressional district in the United States ³⁵.

Who is on the Democratic primary ballot?

What is the background?

Alex Bores, George Conway, Laura Dunn, Micah Lasher, Jack Schlossberg, Nina Schwalbe, Chris Diep, Patrick Timmins and Micah Bergdale ³.

Has Mayor Mamdani endorsed in the race?

What is the background?

No. As of May 2026, Mamdani has not endorsed any candidate. Mamdani narrowly lost NY-12 in the 2025 mayoral primary to Andrew Cuomo, who took 37% in the first round to Mamdani's 33% ³⁵.

Who is Alex Bores?

What is the background?

Alex Bores represents the 73rd Assembly District (Upper East Side), elected to the Assembly in 2022. He worked as a software engineer and manager at Palantir from 2014 to 2019 and holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell and a master's in computer science from Georgia Tech. Bores says he left Palantir in 2019 over the company's renewal of its ICE contract. A February 2026 Bloomberg Law report alleged he also received a formal warning over sexually explicit comments to a colleague shortly before resigning; Bores's campaign disputes that the warning was the reason for his departure ¹⁶¹⁵.

Who is Micah Lasher?

What is the background?

Micah Lasher represents an Upper West Side Assembly district, elected in 2024. He previously served as director of policy for Gov. Kathy Hochul, director of state legislative affairs for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and as a staffer to Rep. Nadler ¹³.

Who is Jack Schlossberg?

What is the background?

Jack Schlossberg, 33, is a writer and social-media personality who has previously worked at Rakuten and the U.S. Department of State. He is the grandson of President John F. Kennedy and the son of Caroline Kennedy ¹⁷.

Who is George Conway?

What is the background?

George Conway, 62, is an attorney and prominent television critic of President Trump, and the ex-husband of Kellyanne Conway. He registered as a Democrat in 2025 before launching his congressional campaign ¹⁷.

Who is Nina Schwalbe?

What is the background?

Nina Schwalbe is a public-health researcher and advocate whose campaign has focused on a science and health-policy platform ³⁸.

Who is Laura Dunn?

What is the background?

Laura Dunn is a civil and victims' rights attorney and the founder of SurvJustice, a nonprofit advocating for survivors of sexual violence ³⁸.

Who is Patrick Timmins?

What is the background?

Patrick Timmins is a litigator, adjunct law professor, and a former candidate for Manhattan District Attorney ³.

Who is Chris Diep?

What is the background?

Chris Diep is a software engineer and son of Vietnamese refugees who is running on a platform focused on workers, affordability, and AI's impact on jobs ³⁸.

Where do the leading candidates live?

What is the background?

Bores lives on the Upper East Side; Lasher lives on the Upper West Side; Schlossberg has said he lives in Chelsea, having grown up on the Upper East Side and attended high school on the Upper West Side ³⁷⁸.

What is Conway's anti-Trump record?

What is the background?

Conway is one of the most prominent television and print critics of President Trump and was a co-founder of the Lincoln Project and Society for the Rule of Law. He has built his campaign around legal and constitutional opposition to the second Trump administration ³⁷.

What is Lasher's approach to Trump opposition?

What is the background?

Lasher has said he wants to bring an aggressive approach to fighting the Trump administration to Congress and has emphasized his policy and legislative experience as preparation for that fight ⁴.

Has Bores called to abolish ICE?

What is the background?

Yes. Bores has said publicly that he called to abolish ICE before he ran for Congress, repeated that position during the primary, and has called Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem responsible for current enforcement practices ⁸.

Why is AI a central issue in this race?

What is the background?

NY-12 has become an early battleground over federal AI policy, in part because Bores is the lead Assembly sponsor of New York's RAISE Act and has been targeted by an AI-industry super PAC and supported by a pro-regulation super PAC ⁹¹⁰¹¹.

What is the RAISE Act?

What is the background?

The Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act, signed into law by Gov. Hochul in December 2025, requires the largest AI developers to publish safety and security protocols for severe risks, such as helping create bioweapons or carrying out automated criminal activity, disclose major safety incidents, and allows the New York attorney general to seek civil penalties for violations ⁹¹⁰.

What is Bores's federal AI agenda?

What is the background?

Bores released an eight-point national AI plan in February 2026 that includes a federal version of the RAISE Act, independent safety testing of frontier AI models, mandatory reporting of AI-related job losses, an AI dividend funded by productivity gains, and tying data-center permitting to renewable-energy use ¹¹.

Which AI super PACs are spending in NY-12?

What is the background?

Leading the Future, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale, Perplexity, and other AI investors, has spent against Bores. Jobs and Democracy PAC, a sister entity supported by an Anthropic donation, has spent in favor of Bores. As of May 2026, the anti-Bores PAC had spent roughly $2.4 million and the pro-Bores PAC roughly $1.2 million ¹⁰¹².

Have other candidates taken positions on AI?

What is the background?

Diep has run on a platform that centers on AI's impact on workers and jobs ³. Other leading candidates have addressed AI policy in forums but have not made it the centerpiece of their campaigns ³⁸.

How does the largest Jewish congressional district shape the race?

What is the background?

NY-12 contains the largest Jewish population of any U.S. congressional district, and candidates have addressed Israel policy in district forums and synagogue events. Coverage describes broad alignment among the leading candidates on support for Israel's security, combined with criticism of Netanyahu, though the candidates differ on tone and specifics ⁷¹³.

What is Lasher's position?

What is the background?

Lasher has said he supports a two-state outcome and continued U.S. security cooperation with Israel, and has been endorsed by Mayor Bloomberg, a longtime supporter of pro-Israel policy positions ³⁴.

What is Bores's position?

What is the background?

Bores has supported continued U.S. security cooperation with Israel while criticizing the Netanyahu government's conduct of the war in Gaza and supporting humanitarian access ⁸.

What is Conway's position?

What is the background?

Conway has supported continued U.S. support for Israel and has framed his foreign-policy approach around opposition to authoritarianism, drawing parallels between Trump and Netanyahu ⁷.

What is Schlossberg's position?

What is the background?

Schlossberg has said he supports a two-state solution and has emphasized humanitarian-aid access in Gaza ⁷.

What is Lasher's gun-safety record?

What is the background?

Lasher's campaign emphasizes his role in passing what his campaign describes as landmark New York laws to strengthen gun control during his time as a policy aide and legislator ¹⁴.

What has Schlossberg proposed?

What is the background?

Schlossberg has released a policy proposal aimed at stopping the flow of illegal guns into New York from out of state ³.

What is Dunn's signature issue?

What is the background?

Dunn founded SurvJustice, which advocates for survivors of sexual violence and reform of how the legal system handles sexual assault and harassment cases. Her congressional platform centers on civil rights and survivor-protection policy ³⁸.

Have other candidates released abortion platforms?

What is the background?

All leading candidates have stated support for federal codification of Roe v. Wade and federal abortion protections ³⁸.

What is Schwalbe's signature issue?

What is the background?

Schwalbe, a public-health researcher and advocate, has built her campaign around a science-and-health-policy lane, focused on pandemic preparedness, drug pricing, and federal public-health infrastructure ³⁸.

Who has endorsed Lasher?

What is the background?

Rep. Jerry Nadler endorsed Lasher in February 2026. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has endorsed Lasher and a Bloomberg-backed super PAC, listed in coverage as spending roughly $4.3 million to $5 million in support ¹³⁴.

Who has endorsed Bores?

What is the background?

Former Rep. Carolyn Maloney endorsed Bores. LGBTQ+ activist Matthew Shurka endorsed Bores after dropping his own bid ³¹⁴.

Who has endorsed Schlossberg?

What is the background?

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed Schlossberg ³.

Who has endorsed Conway?

What is the background?

Conway has not consolidated major institutional endorsements and is running on his national TV-pundit profile and high direct-fundraising totals ³⁷.

Who leads in direct fundraising?

What is the background?

Through Q1 2026, Conway raised roughly $3 million; Bores, Lasher, and Schlossberg each raised approximately $2 million ⁷. Bores had received more than $2.2 million by the end of 2025, and Lasher had raised roughly $1.4 million ¹³.

What has outside spending looked like?

What is the background?

The Bloomberg-backed super PAC has spent in the multiple-millions on Lasher's behalf. The Leading the Future PAC has spent against Bores. Jobs and Democracy PAC has spent on Bores. As of mid-May 2026, those totals were roughly $4.3 million for Lasher, $2.4 million against Bores, and $1.2 million for Bores ³¹².

What does the polling show?

What is the background?

Three early polls (a Conway-commissioned GQR poll, a Leading the Future Schoen Cooperman poll, and a Public Policy Polling poll for Dream NYC) showed Schlossberg leading on initial name recognition. A March 2026 Bores-campaign poll showed Schlossberg at 22%, Bores at 19%, Lasher at 14%, and Conway at 10%, with one-third of voters undecided ³¹³¹⁴.

Who do political insiders see as the front-runners?

What is the background?

Political insiders generally describe the race as a Lasher-versus-Bores contest, often framed as an Upper West Side versus Upper East Side fight, with Schlossberg as a name-recognition wild card and Conway as a fundraising threat ³⁵⁷.