Alex Bores and Micah Lasher lead expensive primary race for Nadler’s seat

Jerry Nadler served 34 years in Congress. His successor will be decided in a single June day, and the campaign to win that seat has turned into one of the most expensive Democratic primaries in New York.

Alex Bores and Micah Lasher, both state assembly members, have emerged as the frontrunners in New York’s 12th Congressional District primary. The election is set for June 23, 2026, and recent polling shows the two candidates running neck and neck in a race that has at least six contenders.

A crowded field with big names

Nadler announced his retirement in September 2025, opening up a seat that hasn’t been genuinely competitive in decades. The district, a deep-blue stronghold covering parts of Manhattan, isn’t the kind of place where the general election matters. Whoever wins the Democratic primary effectively wins the seat.

Beyond Bores and Lasher, the field includes George Conway, the conservative lawyer turned anti-Trump media figure, and Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy.

Lasher secured what is arguably the race’s most valuable endorsement: Nadler himself backed his former staffer on February 9, 2026.

Bores has built his campaign identity around technology policy, specifically the regulation of artificial intelligence, including child safety measures.

Personal brands over policy daylight

Lasher leans into his political connections and institutional experience, having worked as a staffer for Nadler and other prominent New York political figures before winning his assembly seat.

Bores has taken a different approach, casting himself as the candidate who understands the next generation of policy challenges, with AI regulation as the organizing principle of his campaign.

With polling showing Bores and Lasher in a statistical dead heat heading into the final stretch, the outcome likely hinges on turnout mechanics and last-minute spending. The winner will almost certainly hold this seat for years, making June 23 one of the most consequential election days in New York.

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