Congress

Tradition reigns in one of the richest congressional district. Or does it?

Published

5 months ago

June 4, 2026

NEW YORK — The Democratic primary for an open Manhattan congressional seat has attracted a slate of nationally relevant candidates, each boasting a unique and readymade inroad with voters: There’s the much-televised critic of President Donald Trump, the youthful Kennedy scion and the poster child for AI regulation who has drawn the ire of California computing giants.

And then there’s Micah Lasher.

Outside his district, only the most dialed-in voters would recognize the one-term state assemblymember as a player on Albany’s provincial stage. And at a time when Democrats are gravitating toward brash fighters and outsiders, the 44-year-old presents as bookish and the consummate insider. But he might just win.

After more than thirty years, Rep. Jerry Nadler is relinquishing the keys to a coveted fiefdom far from the front lines of intraparty Democratic strife. In one of the oldest and richest congressional district in the country, fiercely liberal voters look back fondly on fights for same-sex marriage and reproductive rights, issues now taken for granted as Democratic orthodoxy. Support for Israel, an issue painfully delaminating the party elsewhere, is largely uncontested here. And everyone really hates Trump.

“In this district, we’ve been progressive for so long they used to call us liberals,” said Scott Stringer, a former city comptroller who has represented the area in several capacities. “We’ve been through the wars, and that grounds you differently than areas with younger generations. They’ll have their wars, too.”

Given that backdrop, it’s little surprise Lasher is running a campaign that seems almost quaint in the era of upstarts and insurgents. He’s leaning on his policy acumen and extensive government experience while amassing endorsements from a majority of neighborhood political clubs and Democratic incumbents including Nadler, Lasher’s former boss.

He’s also receiving a multimillion boost from former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, another former employer, who remains highly regarded on the Upper East Side and beyond.

Yet Lasher’s base on the Upper West Side, across Central Park, is such a wealth of triple-prime voters, is so highly informed and has proven so consequential in propelling past candidates to victory that one starts to wonder why the race is close at all: In the only independent poll so far, Lasher is up by a marginal two points over Alex Bores, a fellow state Assemblymember from Manhattan’s East Side who has found himself at the heart of an AI proxy war. Jack Schlossberg, the digitally savvy son of Caroline Kennedy, and George Conway, the former Republican who became an arch Trump critic, were polling about half as well.

As Pax Nadler draws to a close, dominance of the West Side liberalism that has coursed through the avenues since the days of Bella Abzug — a philosophy that these days supports both the No Kings March and the NYPD officers monitoring it — will be on trial later this month along with Lasher himself. A win would reassure Democratic Party leaders the deepest foundational pylons remain intact. Voters turning away from the Upper West Sider and his coterie of prominent backers, however, would portend something else entirely.

To call Lasher a policy wonk would undersell his strangely prodigious resume.

The Upper West Side native was an adolescent magician who performed on The Today Show and David Letterman, entertained television audiences in Thailand and wrote a sleight-of-hand primer that traced the art’s history back to the 26th century B.C., when Dedi the magician of Ded-Snefru decapitated — and then re-capitated — a goose before the Egyptian king.

At 16, Lasher worked on his first campaign. Before his frontal lobes were fully developed, he was serving as an adviser to neighborhood politicos who have since risen to prominent elected offices. In college, he co-founded what would become SKDK, a national public affairs and political consulting firm. He was a cherubic aide to Nadler in Congress and Bloomberg’s young man in Albany. He was chief of staff to the state attorney general and, before winning an Assembly seat in 2024, the director of policy for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (who has also endorsed him).

After nearly three decades spent inside the vast machinery of New York government and its peripheries, Lasher emerged a middle-aged man. He has three children with his wife, and the first flecks of gray are appearing at his temples.

On Friday, he spent the morning and evening rush hours standing in his shirtsleeves outside an Upper West Side subway station and, later, a major housing development teeming with likely voters. These types of interactions — a quick hello, proffering a piece of literature — are part of the unglamorous but necessary work to build name recognition ahead of the June 23 primary. More than 30 percent of respondents in last months’ Emerson College and PIX 11 poll were undecided.

To those who stopped to chat, Lasher seemed eager to telegraph experience.

“I wrote the abundance plan before we called it abundance,” Lasher said to a man who inquired about housing development.

“You want to know something?” he asked a P.S. 452 student roughly a decade away from voter eligibility. “Many years ago, I worked at the Department of Education and helped create P.S. 452.”

Lasher’s pitch to voters can sometimes feel like whiplash. He touts his close ties to members of the Democratic Party in New York and the long years he toiled in city and state government. As Blue Light News has reported, some of that work was on policies, like supporting charter schools, that are out of step with his current campaign.

“I am very proud of my work in government, and I do think it matters,” he said. “I’m not a blank slate and you don’t get everything right when you’re in there every day trying to make a difference.”

Yet he is also selling himself as the person to shake up the House, as an agent of change in a party that has lost its way amid widespread concerns about democracy and affordability.

Lasher sees one as a prerequisite to the other. Between buttonholing passersby, Lasher argued his work on the inside has produced practical benefits for the public — he cited a push to raise the minimum wage and expanding child care as examples — and that his time absorbing the structural blueprints of American governance positions him well for attempts to disarm the Trump administration.

“I’m running a campaign that makes the argument that to push the Democratic Party to be more aggressive and to effectively take on fascism in the form of Donald Trump, you still need people who know what they’re doing,” he said.

Such an analytical approach to politics might not play well in many congressional districts, but the seat Lasher seeks is one of the most well-informed and politically active in the country. In 2022, the district was redrawn to combine Nadler’s old seat, which covered Manhattan’s West Side and several predominately Jewish sections of Brooklyn, with the district of former Rep. Carolyn Maloney on the East Side, forcing the two into a bitter primary Nadler won decisively.

The wealth and power concentrated within the latest iteration of New York’s 12th congressional seat is staggering. Ballpark estimates suggest its denizens collectively rake in tens of billions of dollars, enough money to run several state governments for a year.

Much of that comes from the Upper East Side, where Museum Mile and mansions of the old robber barons line Central Park along Fifth Avenue, giving way to tony doorman buildings farther east and then the imminently more affordable walkups of Yorkville. Farther south, Stuyvesant Town–Peter Cooper Village is the largest private rental development in the country, with more than 25,000 residents. There are several public housing developments in the district along with New York City’s longtime seat of LGBTQ political power in Chelsea and the West Village.

Lasher’s home turf, where the highest concentration of voters reside, used to be known as the People’s Republic of the Upper West Side. Few would use that term today, as the vanguard of the left has shifted to younger voters along the “commie corridor” in Brooklyn and Queens that propelled New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, into office last year.

Over sandwiches at Old John’s Luncheonette — diners being the de facto meeting ground for political discussions in upper Manhattan — Nadler reflected on some of those shifts and his decision not to run for reelection.

In another era, his votes on issues like same sex marriage once made him an outlier from the Democratic establishment. From his powerful position as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, he twice led impeachment proceedings against Trump. Now, at the age of 78, having witnessed the fallout of President Joe Biden’s aborted reelection campaign, he decided it was time for a new generation of leadership — preferably the protégé he first met when Lasher was just a teenager.

“One thing that made it easy for me to retire was that I knew I had someone who could do the job very well,” Nadler said.

Victory, however, is far from assured.

Bores, Lasher’s colleague in the Assembly, has gained tremendous exposure from a bill he proposed in Albany to regulate AI companies. That initiative has triggered millions of dollars in outside spending from companies both opposed to and supportive of the legislation and, in the process, has given the 35-year-old the type of earned media most candidates only dream of.

And while the two frontrunners occupy similar territory on the political spectrum, Bores has won some key support on Lasher’s turf, including from the Stonewall Democratic Club and the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club. (Conversely, Lasher has picked up two clubs on Bores’ side of the island.)

Bores, too, has the support of several major labor organizations including DC37, the city’s largest municipal union. The organization is already planning to assist with ground operations and an independent expenditure committee, according to its leader, Henry Garrido.

With many voters only now tuning in, it remains to be seen whether Schlossberg and Conway gain ground and — even if they fail to leapfrog the frontrunners — eat into their rivals’ respective bases of support. The hopefuls are all slated to meet Thursday night for a debate that is likely to provide more insight into the shifting dynamics of the race.

With all those unknowns, it’s tempting to apply a metaphor about Lasher’s past life as a magician versed in pulling off the improbable.

Optical illusions, though, only apply in one direction. What looks miraculous to an audience is actually the end result of rigorous rehearsal. In his 1996 book The Magic of Micah Lasher, written before his long stint in government and politics, the author warns of trying to pull off a trick without sufficient practice.

“Your confidence will fade, your performance will not be as smooth, and your audience will not be as entertained as they might be,” he wrote. “It is always worth taking a little extra time to be able to do the trick perfectly.”

Congress

Senate Democrats start spending in Mississippi

Published

4 hours ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Democrats’ money machine is on its way to Mississippi.

Senate Majority PAC is putting an initial $1.2 million on television statewide through Election Day to boost Scott Colom, the group announced Tuesday — another plunge into deep-red territory for Democrats as they take advantage of a dismal environment for Republicans.

Colom, a local prosecutor, has gained on GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith in recent public polling, and has started to gain the attention of national Democrats. Some Senators, including Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock and Arizona Sen. Ruben Gallego, have pushed for more party investment in the race, which they believe in the right environment could flip a traditionally red seat.

But until now, Democrats said their resources were stretched too thin across a widening map that would allow them to play in the Magnolia State.

SMP is launching its first ad Wednesday attacking Hyde-Smith as a “do-nothing” senator and is planning a digital program as well. Lauren French, a spokesperson for SMP, said in a statement that “it is clear Colom is running a competitive race that has put Hyde-Smith on her heels.”

Hyde-Smith’s campaign downplayed the race’s competitiveness while tying Colom to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“It took Chuck Schumer and his Super PACs thirteen months to run a single ad for Scott Colom,” Hyde-Smith campaign spokesperson Nathan Calvert said in a statement. “Chuck knows what Mississippians know, Scott Colom is too liberal, supports transgender surgeries for children, men in women’s restrooms and locker rooms, open borders, and higher taxes. Team Cindy is confident that voters will reject this radical agenda at the ballot box on November 3rd.”

Colom’s campaign didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

Other national Democrats have started paying attention to the race too, with several set to descend on Mississippi ahead of Election Day. Former Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign alongside Colom later this week, and former Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will hit the trail next week.

The state has the highest proportion of Black people in the nation, giving Democrats a high base of support in most elections — and has long left Democrats dreaming they could win statewide, having invested some resources in recent Senate and governor’s races over the past decade. Hyde-Smith did not top 55% of the vote in either of her previous elections, and Colom has seized on an interview clip when she was asked about the high price of beef: “You know, you have so many proteins to choose from.”.

Still, despite the overall positive environment for the party, flipping the seat remains a steep uphill battle. Republicans control all levers of state government, and Trump handily won by 24 points in 2024. The last time Mississippians elected a Democrat statewide was 2015, and the last time the state sent a Democrat to the Senate was 1982.

SMP’s investment in Mississippi follows multimillion-dollar dives into Kansas and Texas that collectively show how far the Senate map has shifted onto red turf in the midterm’s closing weeks. The Chuck Schumer-aligned group has also cut back on spending on television in North Carolina and Georgia in recent weeks amid increasingly bullish outlooks for Democrats Roy Cooper and Sen. Jon Ossoff, respectively.

Congress

DCCC launches ads against Mike Turner in red Ohio district

Published

12 hours ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

House Democrats’ campaign arm is launching its first ad buy against seven-term GOP Rep. Mike Turner in his western Ohio district as they seek to turn up the pressure on Republicans in once-safe red seats.

The DCCC is dropping separate six-figure buys on two coordinated television ads boosting challenger Kristina Knickerbocker, spokesperson Riya Vashi said — a remarkable investment considering Turner won in 2024 by over 18 percentage points, overperforming President Donald Trump.

Ohio adopted a new redistricted congressional map last year that was expected to favor Republicans. Turner’s 10th District voted for Trump by 6 points in 2024; under the new lines it would have been closer to 8 points.

The first ad airing this week opens with a woman saying, “It’s time we had someone in Congress who actually stands up for us” as Knickerbocker jogs through a neighborhood.

Democrats are eyeing Turner’s Dayton-area seat as a reach opportunity. A new internal DCCC poll of 535 likely general election voters reviewed by Blue Light News shows Knickerbocker running three percentage points ahead of Turner. Polling from this summer showed Turner leading the race.

Another Democratic group, House Majority PAC, has already poured more than a million dollars into the race against Turner and has reservations planned through Nov. 3. Knickerbocker is not on the DCCC’s “Red to Blue” roster of candidates who get the bulk of its resources.

“Alarm bells should be ringing for Mike Turner,” Vashi said in a statement. “Kristina Knickerbocker has the momentum in this race, and the DCCC will make sure every voter in this district knows exactly how Turner has betrayed them.”

But the NRCC has been spending in the district for several weeks to boost Turner. House Republican campaign operatives are so far dismissing efforts to flip the seat.

NRCC spokesperson Zach Bannon called Turner “a life-long Ohioan who has a record of cutting taxes, lowering costs, and making Ohio streets safer.”

“While Congressman Turner delivers commonsense conservative wins, out of touch Democrat Kristina Knickerbocker supports a radical far-left agenda,” Bannon said. “This November, Ohioans will reject liberal Knickerbocker and send Congressman Mike Turner back to Congress.”

Congress

Capitol agenda: Dem gavels are coming for Elon Musk

Published

12 hours ago

October 20, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Elon Musk is facing a gauntlet of Democratic oversight.

Democrats have long eyed investigating the world’s richest man and the GOP’s top donor. They may get their chance if they win back congressional power in November, and senior members are mulling how a range of panels could target Musk and a huge swath of his businesses.

Their list of potential probes is growing.

Some members are eager to dig into Musk’s possible role last week in throttling crucial internet access to the Ukrainian military as President Donald Trump seeks to pressure the country into cutting a peace deal with Russia.

“What happens when one guy gets a giant contract from the government and then uses it to do something that shuts down communication in a war that has been extremely important to the United States to support Ukraine?” Rep. Pramila Jayapal said in an interview.

The incident is one of a glut of alleged conflicts of interests members cited as ripe for oversight, as Musk’s companies like SpaceX and Tesla rake in multi-billion dollar federal contracts and subsidies.

“The sheer number of conflicts of interest are astounding,” top Space, Science and Technology Democrat Rep. Zoe Lofgren said.

Spokespeople for Musk did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Members of House Oversight and other panels also want to examine Musk’s role in eliminating over 250,000 federal jobs during his time at DOGE, withholding congressionally appropriated money and accessing sensitive government data.

“Congress must demand a full accounting of the damage Mr. Musk and DOGE caused, and we will not let anyone obstruct our oversight,” House Foreign Affairs ranking member Rep. Greg Meeks said in a statement Monday, referring to the so-called Department of Government Efficiency Musk headed last year.

Meeks named Musk’s part in “the cruel dismantling of USAID” as a prime target for his panel next year.

Some Democrats are not waiting for gavels: House Homeland Security Democrats demanded last month Musk testify under oath about a watchdog report claiming DOGE overstated its savings. And Ways and Means Democrats called for an investigation into the group’s alleged data theft from Social Security records.

But even members on panels with less obvious ties to the tech mogul are eyeing targets. Rep. Maxine Dexter, who sits on Natural Resources and Veterans Affairs, said she sees Musk among “the well-connected billionaire, trillionaires who have seen government contracts as a way to subsidize their own company’s research, development, and bottom line.”

“We need to shut that down,” she said.

What else we’re watching:

— MEET TRUMP’S HILL LIAISON: Katie Bailey is poised to run point between the White House and a chaotic Congress — especially if Democrats prevail in the midterms. Trump’s pick for the new director of the Office of Legislative Affairs is a longtime former congressional aide with wide-ranging experience in oversight and investigations. Her first task will be helping navigate a fast-moving, high-stakes “lame duck” legislative session, where lawmakers rush to pass outstanding bills and avoid a government shutdown. James Braid, who previously held the role before announcing his departure in August, said in an interview that Bailey is up for that task.

— GOP TRIES TO SPARE UKRAINE FROM TRUMP: Republican lawmakers are scrambling to find a way to stop Trump from cozying up to Russia and dismissing Ukraine — but they’re running low on options. All of it comes in response to the president’s decisions to purchase Russian diesel, waive sanctions on Moscow and potentially stop sharing intelligence with Ukraine. Lawmakers are also frustrated with days of unexplained disruptions in Kyiv’s U.S.-controlled satellite defenses. The disparate responses reflect an undercurrent of Republican angst about an administration that has largely ignored Congress on Ukraine and foreign policy more broadly — and the lack of a coordinated response from the legislative branch. They underscore just how little power Trump’s own party has had in reining in his attacks on longstanding allied relationships.

Riley Rogerson, Chris Marquette, Adam Wren, Mia McCarthy, Mark Satter and Leo Shane III contributed to this report.