Micah Lasher, a state lawmaker and former aide to many of New York\u2019s top officials, won a Democratic primary for a coveted open House seat in Manhattan on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.<\/p>\n
Mr. Lasher, 44, gambled by running a staid, old-fashioned campaign<\/a> based on his r\u00e9sum\u00e9 and government expertise at a moment when Democrats across the country are furious at the party establishment and hungry for pugnacious new stars.<\/p>\n But Tuesday\u2019s results suggested that voters in one of the oldest, best-educated and wealthiest districts in the United States may still be an exception, continuing a long tradition of looking past flash and fame to elect liberal policy heavyweights.<\/p>\n Along the way, Mr. Lasher benefited from the support of Representative Jerrold Nadler<\/a>, the district\u2019s beloved retiring congressman and one of his former bosses. Another, former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, plowed $10 million into a super PAC<\/a> supporting the candidate, helping make the race one of the most expensive in House history.<\/p>\n The victory makes Mr. Lasher, a liberal Democrat from the Upper West Side, the odds-on favorite in November\u2019s election to represent the district. It encompasses most of central Manhattan and is home to Broadway, the Empire State Building and more Fortune 500 companies than any other in the country.<\/p>\n The crowd at Mr. Lasher\u2019s primary night party filled Jacob\u2019s Pickles, a restaurant on the Upper West Side, while dozens of overflow watchers gathered outside on Columbus Avenue. He was introduced as \u201cthe mensch of Manhattan\u201d and \u201cour nerd.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a point of pride that I will be representing the most Jewish congressional district,\u201d Mr. Lasher said. \u201cI will always stand up for our community with pride.\u201d<\/p>\n There was scattered applause coupled with boos when Mayor Zohran Mamdani\u2019s face appeared on television. The announcement that Brad Lander, another House candidate in the city whom Mr. Mamdani endorsed, was winning his race was met with boos.<\/p>\n With 85 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Lasher was winning 39 percent of the vote, besting Alex Bores<\/a>, a fellow assemblyman who had become the focus of an extraordinary $27 million proxy fight<\/a> between competing factions of the artificial intelligence industry.<\/p>\n Mr. Bores, in his concession speech, focused on the millions of dollars that were spent against him by groups aligned with the leaders of large technology companies like OpenAI.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a huge and unprecedented fight and we did not back down,\u201d Mr. Bores said. \u201cWhile we came up short tonight, the example set here was very much not the one they intended.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Lasher, for his part, also sent a warning shot to A.I. companies, saying his priority around the technology would be fighting for the well-being of young people.<\/p>\n Jack Schlossberg<\/a>, the grandson of John F. Kennedy whose entrance into the race drew international attention, was running in a distant third place with 11 percent of the vote. He was ahead of Nina Schwalbe, a public health expert, and George T. Conway III<\/a>, who was once married to President Trump\u2019s 2016 campaign manager and is now a harsh critic of the White House.<\/p>\n Addressing a full but quiet room, Mr. Schlossberg joked that he was the \u201coldest person\u201d on his campaign to scattered giggles. He ended his speech with a variation of perhaps the most famous quote from his grandfather.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of us ask not what our country can do,\u201d Mr. Schlossberg said, \u201cbut what we can do to help our city.\u201d<\/p>\n