The Democratic primary for New York’s 12th congressional district has become one of the most expensive House primaries in history, with super PACs spending nearly $30 million ahead of the June 23 vote. Jack Schlossberg, the 33-year-old Kennedy scion who built a following of more than one million people through viral social media content, is competing in a field that includes state Assemblymen Micah Lasher and Alex Bores and conservative lawyer George Conway.
The race has tested the limits of online fame as a political credential. Schlossberg, who leveraged his large social media footprint — earning comparisons to his late uncle John F. Kennedy Jr. and the moniker “the internet’s crush” — has faced questions about his readiness for federal office from opponents who emphasize their legislative experience. A New York Times story published in mid-May, based on conversations with multiple former staffers and a woman who interviewed for a job with the campaign, characterized the candidate as indecisive and said he missed strategy meetings. Schlossberg called the story a “hit piece.”
“You don’t get through Harvard Law and Business School and pass the bar if you can’t show up for a meeting and sleep through the day,” Schlossberg told The Wall Street Journal. He later said he didn’t want to complain about his press coverage but felt he had been under a magnifying glass in a way his rivals weren’t.
Schlossberg entered the race after Rep. Jerrold Nadler announced he would not seek reelection. His candidacy was preceded by a personal tragedy: his sister Tatiana Schlossberg died of acute myeloid leukemia at age 35. “Her thing was like, ‘If you do it, you have to win,’” he said.
The primary field’s financial dynamics have been dominated by outside spending from warring AI interests, which The Wall Street Journal reported has benefited Bores, and from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is backing Lasher. Schlossberg has staked his candidacy on rejecting such expenditures, calling super PACs a “corrupting force.” He said he has become a “zealot about super PACs.”
Early polls put Schlossberg ahead of his rivals, but more recent surveys have found him fighting for fourth with Conway, according to The Wall Street Journal. To his opponents, a loss would be proof that dynastic descent and online virality are poor credentials for federal office. To Schlossberg, a loss would indicate that even a candidate with his advantages — “a maximum contribution of renown and rizz” — cannot compete against dark money.
“It’s tough if you don’t have a platform that you were born with, like myself,” he said. “If I can’t do it, then nobody can.”
Lasher put the criticism bluntly. “We’re not running to be a TikTok star,” he told Time.
Schlossberg responded: “That’s the problem right there — that someone doesn’t see this as part of the job now, when it clearly is. I’m not running because of my following. It’s just one strength I’d bring to Congress.”
His campaign has emphasized policy substance over social media persona. At campaign events, he delivers a stump speech focused on incremental reforms, describing to voters his platform on nurses and eldercare. “Just policy,” he said. “Talk about freaking nurses, dude, and eldercare.”
The race has also revived public fascination with the Kennedy family. Schlossberg often draws comparisons to his uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr., who died in a 1999 plane crash. A contingent of young supporters first learned of JFK’s descendants through the 2022 documentary “Love Story.” Schlossberg said he hates the show on principle but doesn’t begrudge his new fans. “I think it’s so cool that my Uncle John still resonates,” he said.
“This race taught me a lot in that respect,” Schlossberg said. “It’s been a wild experience.”