Topline
John F. Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, came in a distant third place in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.—after reports of a disorderly campaign and sometimes volatile behavior from the 33-year-old first-time candidate.
Key Facts
Schlossberg had won 10.8% of votes when the race was called by the Associated Press just after 10 p.m. ET.
Democratic state assemblyman Micah Lasher, endorsed by Nadler, won the race with 39% of the vote, ahead of fellow state lawmaker Alex Bores who received 35%.
Schlossberg, the son of Caroline Kennedy and the only grandson of Jackie Kennedy and the late president, was competing against eight other candidates to replace Nadler, who is retiring after 17 terms representing New York’s 12th Congressional District covering Manhattan’s Upper East and Upper West sides.
Lincoln Project co-founder and Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway’s ex-husband George Conway was also on the ballot, switching to the Democratic Party after gaining notoriety as an outspoken Trump critic on social media.
Conway only managed to garner 6.1% of the votes, finishing in fifth place
tangent
The race for Nadler’s seat has been one of the most expensive congressional primaries this election cycle, as tech groups have targeted Bores, a former Palantir employee-turned-critic over his support for AI regulations. About $8 million for ads attacking Bores have come from Think Big, a group affiliated with Leading the Future, which is backed by OpenAI’s Greg Brockman, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and Palantir’s Joe Lonsdale, Politico reported. Crypto billionaire Chris Larsen has spent more than $3 million to support Bores, according to Politico. Groups partly funded by Anthropic have also backed Bores, the Associated Press reported. Billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has spent at least $10 million to support Lasher, his former employee.
key background
Schlossberg, 33, flamed out early in the race, facing reports of a disorganized operation and volatile behavior, including frequent outbursts against his adversaries and provocative posts on Instagram, where he has 883,000 followers. He faced accusations of a high turnover rate among his staff and criticism of his lack of experience. In one highly cited story about his behavior, The New York Times reported Schlossberg told his staff on campaign launch day he was going home to take a nap. His campaign manager, Paige Phillips, downplayed the alleged nap, telling the paper he was privately dealing with his sister, Tatiana’s, cancer diagnosis. She died in December at the age of 35. Schlossberg recently told The New Yorker he decided to continue his campaign, despite grieving his sister, because he was inspired by his work as a Biden campaign surrogate and wanted to continue the momentum.