‘A grassroots movement’: JFK’s grandson shakes up Democratic primary in New York

Jack Schlossberg is preaching radical change as he mounts an unorthodox campaign for the Democratic nomination to run for Congress in New York’s 12th district

Jack Schlossberg has been unsparing in his criticism of Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy jnr. Photograph: Mel Musto/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Fri Jun 19 2026 - 07:26 • 6 MIN READ

There’s a plaque on 79th street between Columbus and Amsterdam, just a few minutes’ walk from the American Museum of Natural History, marking the address of the apartment formerly owned by the late Philip Roth, who for decades was the most celebrated resident on the block. “The writer was as fierce as the man was generous; an enemy of cant, an advocate of freedom in all its guises, personal and political” reads the Historic Landmarks dedication.

It’s a sedate section of a city in constant reinvention and many or Roth’s haunts and evocations of the city as neighbourhood – Nice Matin, the brasserie on the corner; Zabar’s, the deli and delicatessen on the corner of 80th and Broadway that has been a neighbourhood fixture for 90 years, and the benches by the Natural History Museum where Roth himself sat – are unchanged. The Upper West Side is a key catchment for the crowded field competing for the congressional Democratic primary election for the city’s 12th district – and maintaining the sense of neighbourhood so vital in Roth’s work is an underlying theme in the race.

It’s a high-profile election, partly because the 12th covers a large swathe from the bouji upper east and west sides and down as far as Hudson Yards. But it has also caught the national eye because 33-year-old Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of the late Democratic president John Fitzgerald Kennedy , is running an unorthodox and decidedly 21st-century campaign that has him vying for the lead.

Congressional elections are different in that visitors and tourists crowd the streets entirely oblivious to the fact that Manhattan is on the threshold of a primary. There are no posters or paraphernalia, with the struggle for voter-loyalty playing out through digital media campaigns and time-honoured boots-on-ground mileage: an old-new hybrid that Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign used to spur a groundswell of support.

But wandering up Amsterdam on Wednesday, I come across Grace Peacore distributing leaflets for Micah Lasher, who often places nose-for-nose with Schlossberg in the fluctuating polls. Other leading contenders include Alex Bores, also a state assembly member, who is pushing a tax on second homes. The contrast between Lasher and Schlossberg frames the range of choices for New Yorkers: a proven state politician with two decades of experience or a fresh voice preaching radical change and with a bloodline connection to the mythical era of Democratic Washington.

“This is a very engaged district,” Peacore, who is the communications director for Lasher, says of the Upper West Side.

“Voters here are highly educated, know a lot about what is going on and what they want in a Congress member. The West Side is voter rich, meaning there is a high turnout. People here really do want someone who will fight against Trump and restore our democracy in Washington. I also think that even though it is a high-income district, people are really focused on affordability in this city and making sure the next generation can stay here and raise families here. So, first jobs, first homes are important.”

Jack Schlossberg hopes to win a Congress seat in a part of New York that traditionally elects a Democratic candidate. Photograph: Sabrina Santiago/The New York Times

Lasher’s knowledge of the locality is without peer. He was born in this area and still lives within 10 blocks of his childhood home and can point to everything from gun-safety measures to his involvement in the Riverside Park Conservancy as evidence of his commitment to the area.

“I think a lot of us got involved in the campaign because of Micah’s experience and his vision for the 12th,” Peacore says.

“He leads with a lot of integrity and that drew a lot of us in. Micah Lasher’s been in public service for the better part of the last two decades. He really knows how to use the legislative process to make change for New Yorkers, most recently in the state assembly leading the fight against Trump and the fascism we see in Washington. So, I think he is the best equipped to go to Washington to fight back.”

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The foyer of the Natural History Museum, on 79th, has been deployed as one of the early voting centres for the 12th. Campaign staff stand outside handing out manifesto brochures. Schlossberg’s people, although friendly, prefer not to talk about their candidate’s campaign. But Marian Rivman, who has lived on 65th for 58 years, explains what compelled her to volunteer for Schlossberg when she stops to talk while on her way home from a “Silver Sneakers” fitness clas…