Coming soon: A primary in the media capital of the world

NEW YORK — At least one New York Democrat wasn't taken by surprise when Rep. Jerry Nadler announced Monday night he was bowing out of the House: Assemblymember Micah Lasher.

While many have eyed the seat for years, the Upper West Side state lawmaker and former Nadler aide appears to be best positioned to fill the 17-term incumbent's seat.

“Obviously, we have great affection for him,” Nadler’s chief of staff Rob Gottheim said of Lasher in an interview.

That doesn’t mean it’ll be an easy coronation.

Nadler, the 78-year-old dean of New York’s Congressional delegation, said he wouldn’t seek reelection in an interview with The New York Times published Monday night. He had decided he’d retire “sometime over the summer,” Gottheim said. And he’d kept the decision quiet before the announcement, telling just “a small group of people you can count on one hand.”

Gottheim declined to say whether Lasher was one of them, though another person familiar with the conversations who was granted anonymity to confirm private discussions said he was. Gottheim also wouldn’t rule out Nadler endorsing his former staffer as his replacement.

Nadler’s news kicks off a ten-month race to the June 2026 Democratic primary that will seize attention in a district in the heart of the media capital of the world. It’s all but sure to be a crowded race that could help shape the direction of a Democratic party grappling with how to respond to President Donald Trump — who used to live in the district — and whether Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani’s democratic socialism is the answer.

“It’s the most coveted and arguably important congressional seat in New York because of the history of political influence from that seat, and also the fundraising base that comes with it,” said Evan Thies, a Democratic strategist who’s worked in the district. “That allows you to be a national player and leader in the party, and you’re also representing one of the highest voting blocs for Democrats of any Congressional district in the country.”

There’s already excitement in the district. Just hours after Nadler’s announcement, leaders of four Democratic clubs on Manhattan’s east side started planning a joint candidate forum — tentatively scheduled for January.

New York’s 12th Congressional District includes the geographic center of Manhattan, stretching from the top of Central Park and the Upper West and Upper East Sides through Midtown with Times Square and the United Nations down to 14th Street — the historic line marking where downtown Manhattan begins. Andrew Cuomo won the most votes in the first-round of the June mayoral primary thanks to a mix of positive sentiment for the former governor and reluctant voters looking to stop Mamdani with his socialist politics and anti-Israel rhetoric. But when the ranked-choice votes were distributed, Mamdani eked out the win, topping Cuomo by 170 votes, or 0.1 percent.

So the upcoming primary poses a test for Mamdani’s personal influence and the politics he champions. Lasher is viewed by some as part of Mamdani’s new inner circle. The Democrat who’d previously advised pro-corporate pols like Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg quickly threw Mamdani support after he won the primary and became a sort of liaison between the insurgent candidate and the Democratic establishment.

”Micah is a friend. And I’ve appreciated the advice, the reflections, and the short time that we had together in the Assembly,” Mamdani said Tuesday when asked if he’d support him for the seat. But the democratic socialist demurred in endorsing Lasher as well — at least for the moment. “I would say you're being a bit of an immigrant father in terms of asking me about beyond November,” Mamdani joked. “Let's just focus on where we’ve got to get to first, which is the general election.”

Potentially complicating Mamdani’s decision is the fact that the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America — of which Mamdani’s a proud member — is now considering whether a DSA candidate could compete for the seat.

The district wasn’t a high priority before Nadler’s announcement, NYC-DSA co-chair Gustavo Gordillo said. But now? “If there was a candidate with our values who was interested in our endorsement, I think we would take it seriously.”

A handful of other elected officials in the district are eyeing the seat, looking to move up. City Council Members Erik Bottcher and Keith Powers both confirmed their interest. And while Council Member Julie Menin is focused on running for city council speaker, a person familiar with her thinking said there’s a chance she’d reconsider if that internal vote in January doesn’t go her way.

Menin, like Powers, resides on the east side, which puts anyone in a race for the seat at an immediate disadvantage. Manhattan’s west side traditionally has more Democratic voters, and candidates hailing from that side of Central Park typically outperform those on the east — think Nadler making mincemeat of fellow Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the 2022 primary after redistricting stuck the two veterans together. Lasher is a west sider, but the standard dynamics could be different in a crowded field.

Even among Lasher’s colleagues, there are Assemblymembers Tony Simone and Alex Bores who are both considering running. “I’d be silly not to take a look,” Bores said, before praising Nadler’s “years of distinguished service.”

Bores represents the east side, but he’s been spotted at a lot of events on the west side in the last couple years, City Council Member Gale Brewer said, “and we know why.”

At 73-years old, Brewer herself has no interest in running. She learned of Nadler’s retirement by reading the news, despite working alongside him in various roles for decades. After the news broke, he called her Tuesday morning.

“He said he had been thinking about it for a couple of weeks. Those were his exact words,” Brewer said. “I worship that guy. He’s just a model of integrity and intelligence."

Other west side Nadler allies also took themselves out of the running for the congressional seat — which could be a boon for Lasher. State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal is planning to focus on his new job of Manhattan borough president, after beating Powers in the June primary. And Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal is only considering running in the expected 2026 special election for Hoylman-Sigal’s seat.

Meanwhile, Maloney is putting herself back into the running. The 79-year-old former Congressmember is considering a comeback bid despite her advanced age, according to a former senior Maloney staffer granted anonymity to discuss her thinking.

But elected officials aren’t the only ones looking at Nadler’s spot. And there’s precedent for success there. Rep. Dan Goldman won the neighboring 10th Congressional district in 2022, defeating a bevy of veteran politicians in an open primary as a first-time candidate with a Trump-fighting resume. Millions of dollars of personal wealth as a Levi’s jeans heir didn’t hurt Goldman, either.

Former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, now a Columbia Law professor, is a dream candidate for some on the left. She appeared at campaign events for Mamdani and praised him in a Times op-Ed. She didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on her interest in running for office.

Investor Whitney Tilson finished a distant seventh in the mayoral primary after running on a specifically anti-Mamdani platform. He said he’s considering running for the seat in a Tuesday post on X.

Liam Elkind, a 26-year-old Rhodes scholar made a splash by calling on Nadler to retire when he launched a primary campaign against the Congress member in July. Elkind got what he wanted but now seems likely to get crowded out by contenders with longer resumes and stronger allies.

Other potential candidates mentioned by insiders include actor and activist Cynthia Nixon, attorney Tali Farhadian, author and commentator Molly Jong-Fast, former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton, Kennedy scion social media star Jack Schlossberg — who declined to comment when asked about his interest in the seat — and Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer who had previously said he planned to run against Nadler. Lindsey Boylan, an anti-Cuomo activist who ran against Nadler in 2020, also declined to comment when asked if she’d run again.

Until recently, Nadler was poised to run again himself.

“Jerry Nadler’s successor is on his way to graduating high school,” former New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer quipped in a February interview, suggesting that the septuagenarian had another few terms left in him. After all, Nadler himself told New York mag in 2024 he could see himself serving another ten years.

Stringer was once considered a likely successor to Nadler, after filling his Assembly seat in 1993. But he’s since moved out of the district and likely saw his window close with a second straight fifth place finish in the mayoral primary. Lasher was Stringer’s campaign manager in 2021 and a primary endorser in 2025, and it’s now him who’s ascendant.

Lasher was a political wunderkind who was managing Hoylman-Sigal’s campaign as a teenager, not long after he had published a book of magic tricks at age 14. His career includes work for Nadler, Bloomberg, Hochul, a charter school advocacy group — an issue he later changed his tune on — and a narrow loss in a 2016 state Senate race before joining the Legislature, defeating a candidate backed by the left-leaning Working Families Party for an open Assembly seat last year.

Lasher didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on his interest in the seat. But he made clear in a February interview that he looks up to Nadler.

“Jerry has godlike status in the district,” he said.