The race to replace outgoing Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) in New York’s 12th Congressional District involves four Democrats who engaged in a heated debate this week.
The four contenders include assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s grandson Jack Schlossberg, former Palantir data scientist and New York state assemblyman Alex Bores, former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway’s ex-husband George Conway, and New York state assemblyman Micah Lasher.
Nadler was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee from 2019 to 2023 and is retiring after more than two decades in Congress.
During a June 4 debate televised on PIX11, discussions became combative and Bores found himself a target after commercials for and against him popped up on the screen.
“I’m nothing like the incessant text and mailers and TV ads that are being sent out to demonize me, but I am terrifying to Trump’s megadonors and apparently to my opponents as well,” Bores said.
The first advertisement cast Bores as “bought and sold” by corporate interests and was paid for by Think Big PAC, whose donors include OpenAI President Greg Brockman, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, and Silicon Valley investor Ron Conway.
The two advertisements after that were sponsored by Bores, where he was portrayed as a champion of the working class.
His legislative record includes the Responsible AI Safety and Education (RAISE) Act, which was signed into law in December 2025.
Lasher, who is a former Nadler staffer, was one of the candidates who sparred with Bores.
Nadler has endorsed Lasher, whose legislative record includes sponsoring legislation that would implement tougher penalties for bad landlords to combat tenant harassment, and establishing 25-foot buffer zones around reproductive healthcare facilities and houses of worship.
“Alex only wants to tell you half the story, about one AI company that’s spending millions to defeat him, and that’s bad but he’s not telling you the story about Anthropic, which is spending a million dollars to elect him, or a crypto billionaire who is spending $3.5 million to send him to Congress,” Lasher said.
Schlossberg argued tech companies would gain too much control from the artificial intelligence regulation proposed by Bores while Conway appeared to defend Bores.
The RAISE Act requires companies to disclose serious incidents, such as if a dangerous AI model is stolen by a malicious actor or is behaving in a dangerous way.
“What we saw here tonight was something that Democrats sometimes do a little too well, which was a circular, or really a triangular firing squad, and I think that’s a shame,” Conway said.
The primary takes place on June 23 and the 12th Congressional District spans Central Park and Times Square in Midtown Manhattan.