Micah Lasher has defeated Alex Bores in the battle for retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler\u2019s Manhattan congressional seat, according to media projections Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
In the race for the 12th Congressional District, the most Jewish in the country, Lasher had 40,106 votes, or 39.1 percent, and Bores collected 35,822 votes, or 35 percent, with 87 percent of the ballots counted.<\/p>\n
The crowded field in the Democratic primary also included John F. Kennedy grandson Jack Kennedy Shlossberg, public health expert Nina Schwalbe, and George Conway, a Republican-turned-Democrat and Trump antagonist. All three were trailing well behind Lasher.<\/p>\n
During his victory speech, Lasher pointed to both his and the district\u2019s Jewish identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an enormous point of pride that I will be representing the most Jewish congressional district in the country,\u201d Lasher said. \u201cI will always stand up for our community with pride.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also received a loud ovation after he thanked \u201cthe rabbis and Jewish community leaders\u201d who helped the campaign.<\/p>\n
A number of Lasher\u2019s political allies and former bosses spoke, including Nadler, who\u2019s represented the upper West Side since 1992, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Comptroller Mark Levine, and Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who told the JTA that Lasher would be a bridge between Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Jewish community.<\/p>\n
Holyman-Sigal called Lasher the \u201cmensch of Manhattan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lasher thanked Nadler for his decades of service and mentorship, saying he taught Lasher things like \u201cvision, compassion, and how to canvass voters outside Zabar\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nadler is \u201cas much an institution in Manhattan as Central Park and pastrami on rye,\u201d Lasher said.<\/p>\n
The House seat \u2014 which covers the Upper West and Upper East sides and midtown Manhattan, and is seen as a crown jewel in New York politics \u2014 opened up after Nadler announced last fall that he would retire at the end of this term.<\/p>\n
Nadler\u2019s preferred heir was Lasher, a Jewish State Assembly member who has worked for the progressive stalwart and other prominent politicians such as Gov. Kathy Hochul and former Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Lasher has the support of those former bosses, plus much of the West Side political establishment.<\/p>\n
Fellow Assembly member Bores, meanwhile, has built a coalition<\/a> that includes both pro-Israel moderates and progressive groups critical of the Jewish state by emphasizing that he will be tough on artificial intelligence companies. Former congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who represented much of Manhattan\u2019s East Side from 1993 until 2023, is among Bores\u2019 supporters.<\/p>\n On the subject of Israel, the makeup of the NY-12 race has been unlike other contested New York City races: Elsewhere, at least one of the two leading candidates has accmused Israel of committing a genocide in Gaza and supports placing conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel.<\/p>\n But Lasher and Bores both describe themselves as pro-Israel and anti-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and neither one supports blocking weapons sales to the Jewish state.<\/p>\n Mamdani is himself a voter in the district as a resident of Gracie Mansion and who cast his ballot a few days ago, during the early voting period, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He has declined to weigh in publicly on the race. The mayor endorsed two democratic socialist candidates and Brad Lander \u2014 his Jewish ally who accuses Israel of genocide, and has positioned himself against both offensive and defensive military aid to Israel \u2014 in other races.<\/p>\n Lasher and Bores have both consistently advocated for universally applying the existing Leahy Law, which bars the U.S. from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights with impunity.<\/p>\n Schlossberg has criticized Lasher and Bores for their stance, calling it an \u201cinsufficient answer,\u201d<\/a> and advocates for blocking offensive weapons sales to Israel while still funding the Iron Dome defensive missile system. He is the only of the top-four candidates to call for conditions on aid to Israel and halting any weapons sales. After initially leading in early polls, Schlossberg\u2019s support appears to have fallen amid questions over his lack of experience.<\/p>\n Conway, an anti-Trumper and longtime attorney who was married to former Donald Trump staffer Kellyanne Conway, rounds out the top four in the polling.<\/p>\n Throughout the election, candidates convened for forums at numerous synagogues in the heavily Jewish district \u2014 23.3% of constituents are Jewish, according to a 2024 study<\/a> \u2014 and answered questions related to antisemitism, Israel and other Jewish-related issues.<\/p>\n