Nostalgia for Kennedy’s short-lived “Camelot” is now more than 60 years old, contrasting with modern American politics in 2026 around Trump and AI.
JFK’s grandson is running for Congress. Who is Jack Schlossberg?
JFK’s grandson is running for Congress. Who is Democratic social media star Jack Schlossberg?
NEW YORK – New York’s 12th Congressional District encompasses central Manhattan. There’s Chelsea, a gay enclave turned tech haven, Times Square, home to tourist traps and corporate headquarters, and even the upscale Upper East and West Sides, home to the rich and famous.
So who better to represent a liberal-leaning, wealthy district than Kennedy?
The race is tight, with some early polls showing Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, leading in the crowded field to replace retiring Congressman Jerry Nadler.
With the June 23 Democratic primary set to decide the overwhelming favorite in a Democratic-heavy district, Schlossberg is far from guaranteed to win the party’s nomination, which once seemed like a foregone conclusion.
The candidates enjoyed early media hype and had a 9-point lead from late February to early March, according to one study commissioned by Democratic opponents.
However, that lead has slipped. A recent Emerson College Poll/PIX 11 poll released on May 21 showed state Rep. Micah Lasher with 22% support and state Rep. Alex Boaz on the other side of Central Park with 20% support. Mr. Schlossberg was in third place with 11%, followed by former Republican cable news commentator George Conway, who was “never Trump”, with 10%.
The campaign not only evokes nostalgia for President JFK’s short-lived Camelot, but also addresses current debates in Democratic politics about how to counter the Trump administration’s sweeping changes to the federal government, declining support for Israel, and battles over AI regulation.
“If Jack Schlossberg wasn’t a Kennedy, we wouldn’t be talking about him, would we?” Chris Coffey, a Democratic strategist who supports Rusher, told USA TODAY. The district is one of the wealthiest and best-educated in the country, making it likely to see through Schlossberg’s thin resume, he said.
“Where his votes go will determine the winner of this race,” Coffey said.
A new type of Kennedy
Schlossberg, 33, is best known as the tall, handsome son of former Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, the only survivor of President Kennedy.
He gained a massive following on social media for his bizarre antics, such as asking if second lady Usha Vance was more attractive than his grandmother, first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. Before that, she had posted a video of herself reading Lord Byron’s lyric poem “She Walks Beautifully” while wearing Lipstick. In another article, he called his uncle Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s failed 2024 presidential bid “disgraceful.” Kennedy currently serves as Secretary of Health in the Trump administration.
Like much of his family, Schlossberg boasts an impressive academic background, including a degree from Harvard Law School. However, his work history is short. In government, he worked at the State Department while his mother served as an ambassador for several months. He also held temporary positions in Japan at e-commerce company Rakuten and Suntory Distillery. He spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention.
Schlossberg’s campaign is focused on restoring his family’s legacy as a pillar of Democratic politics, with the slogan “Let’s Believe in Something Again.” But he has also vowed not to accept PAC money, saying it inevitably compels politicians to compromise. It also promised to provide tax breaks to renters.
Like many liberal Democrats, Schlossberg has opposed aggressive military aid to Israel. Both Mr. Boas and Mr. Lasher support continued U.S. military aid to Israel in areas with large Jewish populations. Schlossberg, who is half-Jewish, supports funding Israel’s Iron Dome defense system.
New York Magazine reported on one of Schlossberg’s campaign events, a March Madness watch party that heavily skewed toward women and young people.
Election filings show that celebrities such as “Saturday Night Live” executive producer Lorne Michaels, musician Paul Simon and former Secretary of State Antony Blinken have donated to his campaign. He also received the support of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, an 86-year-old Democratic icon who met Schlossberg’s grandfather.
But with his celebrity endorsement, Mr. Schlossberg has recently been the subject of critical reporting in the New York Times, which reported on high turnover within his campaign and allegations of erratic behavior.
Schlossberg’s campaign did not respond to requests for an interview.
There was once a chance that Mr. Kennedy would emerge victorious in the Northeastern Democratic primary, as Mr. Schlossberg’s great-uncle Robert F. Kennedy did in the 1964 New York State Senate race, but that may not be the case now.
“It’s unclear whether Kennedy’s name will be much of a help,” Basil Smikle, a Columbia University professor and former state Democratic Party executive director, said in an email. “And in some ways, the balance of power favors Boas and Rusher, the two candidates who already represent the area.”
Legislative power to fight Trump
If Schlossberg is the epitome of an adventurer’s heir, Lasher is the archetypal ordinary politician trying to seize that opportunity.
If endorsements were to matter anymore, Mr. Lasher would win by a wide margin. In addition to Mr. Nadler, a 17-term lawmaker, Mr. Lasher has the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul, former Mayor Mike Bloomberg, former Gov. David Paterson, and a long list of city and state Democratic officials.
Schlossberg ran for Congress in 2024 after working as an aide to Nadler, who was Bloomberg City Hall’s state legislative affairs director and policy director under Hochul. Mr. Bloomberg, a billionaire who has invested heavily in local elections, poured $5 million into the New York primary super PAC stand in March.
As he entered the diner, shaking hands with customers, Lasher told USA TODAY that voters, more than past Democrats, are looking for someone they can trust to actually take on President Donald Trump.
“I often tell the voters I meet that the Democratic Party needs to find its spine. I want to lead the search party,” Mr. Lasher, 44, said after breakfast.
Lasher said he knows how to use the legislative process to effect change, citing his past work on public health, immigration and voting rights.
“I’m not a tech guy, I’m not a TikTok influencer,” he said, apparently referring to Boas and Schlossberg. “I’m a legislative warrior, and that’s the job we’re all running for.”
Lasher has put together a roadmap for Democrats called Project 2026, which is modeled after the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which laid out priorities for the second Trump administration. “Project 2026” is a strategy for oversight and investigations that could be launched if Democrats take control of the House.
But he also said Democrats need a “positive agenda” that people believe in, and should focus on economic concerns such as housing, child care, health care, jobs and wages.
“Voters should not have to choose between having experience and know-how and having a fighting spirit,” he said. “And with me, they don’t have to make that choice.”
AI arms race
In an interview with USA TODAY over coffee near Grand Central Terminal, Boas, 35, argued that his experience in the technology industry makes him the best candidate. Boaz boasts a degree in computer science, making him the first Democrat elected to the state Legislature. He worked for Palantir Technologies until he clashed with Immigration and Customs Enforcement over a contract.
“This is a race about who is best suited to serve the voters of this district going forward, not who comes from the most prestigious family, or who comes from the most storied political machine, or who the establishment will work with,” Boas said. “The competition is to see who can draw a vision for the future.
His signature, the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act of 2025, which requires AI developers to create and publish safety protocols and allows civil lawsuits against developers who fail to file required reports or make false statements, is one of the strongest state-level regulations for artificial intelligence.
President Donald Trump has issued an executive order calling for overriding state AI laws and allowing the field to “freely innovate without burdensome regulation.”
A super PAC associated with OpenAI leaders has pledged to spend millions of dollars on attack ads against Boas. Leading the Future, a super PAC backed by tech billionaire Trump donors Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz and Greg Brockman, first announced in November that it would target Boas.
The Public First super PAC, aligned with OpenAI rival Anthropic, appeared to be more supportive of regulation and contributed significantly to Boas.
“In a campaign that we’re all committed to running against Donald Trump, I’m the only one that Donald Trump’s mega-donors are spending millions of dollars on,” Boas said.
Boas said he also sees localized harm from AI. The region has a high concentration of white-collar workers, many of whom are at risk of having many of their jobs replaced by AI, he said.
Our Revolution, a progressive organization founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, endorsed Boas. Joseph Guivarghese, who heads Our Revolution, said the race is a proxy war between different factions in the tech industry. Guivarghese said the “big tech oligarchs” don’t want AI regulation and see Boas as a threat to introduce consumer guardrails into an emerging industry.
“At the end of the day, it’s a grassroots versus tech giant issue,” Geevarghese said. “The level of outside spending, especially from technology companies, speaks to why this is such an important election. Again, this is an area where there is no strong leadership in Congress who has demonstrated the ability to hold big technology companies accountable.”
‘Never Trump’ Cable News Stardom
Mr. Conway, a 62-year-old former Republican lawyer who gained notoriety on cable news and social media as a “definitely not Trump,” entered the Manhattan race in January.
Mr. Conway, who is married to senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, previously told New York political news organization City & State, “I feel like I’m not doing enough.” “And I think that in this particular moment, we really need people who are very focused on fighting authoritarianism because there’s so much at stake.”
His focus seems to have been on defending democracy. The campaign website also said President Trump is making Americans worse off, including by increasing costs and health care costs from cutting Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act.
Conway’s campaign did not respond to requests for an interview.
Now that he’s moved into the mayor’s mansion, New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani is identified as a Democrat in the district, according to State Elections Commission records. However, he has not yet endorsed anyone in the race.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Contact us via email (emcuevas1@usatoday.com) or Signal (emcuevas.01).
