Undecided Voters Hold Key in Crowded Race for Nadler Seat in Congress
Despite some recent dropouts, the field to succeed Jerry Nadler in New York’s 12th Congressional district is still a wide open horse race.
| 13 Mar 2026 | 08:07
The poll conducted Feb. 22 to 25 shows Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg the preferred candidate of 23 percent of the voters in the upcoming Democratic primary followed by Trump critic George Conway. The poll by Schoen Cooperman includes several candidates who have since dropped out of the race (
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Jerry Nadler set off a wild horse race to succeed him when he said he was not going to seek reelection for the Congressional seat he has held for 34 years. The Dem primary is set for June 23. (
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It is still a wide open field in New York’s 12 Congressional district with the biggest block of likely Democratic party voters, 33 percent, still undecided according to a poll conducted by the George Conway campaign. The poll which has him in second, trailing Jack Schlossberg. (
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Two recent polls say Kennedy heir Jack Schlossberg is the leading candidate in the 12th Congressional district race but a third of the voters in both polls said they were still undecided in a district that covers the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side and Midtown Manhattan above 14th St.
One poll conducted by GQR and commissioned by candidate George Conway and first reported by City & State said Schlossberg was the early leader with 25 percent. But 33 percent of those contacted in the telephone poll conducted by cell phone and land lines between Feb. 25 and March 2 said they were undecided
Conway, a relentless critic of President Donald Trump who only registered as a Democrat last year, is the ex-spouse of former Trump mouthpiece Kellyanne Conway. The poll said George Conway was in second place with 16 percent of the vote.
A second poll, by the Super Pac Leading the Future and conducted by Schoen Cooperman also pegged Schlossberg as the early favorite with 23 percent of the vote with Conway at 13 percent and Bores at 11 percent.
Leading the Future has run attack ads targeting Bores although the East side assembly member has said he thinks the attack ads are actually aiding his name recognition in the crowded field.
He was outpolling fellow Assembly member Lasher who was pulling only 6 percent of potential voters in the Leading for the Future poll. The remaining candidates were fighting over the remaining 11 percent. Several of the candidates in the poll conducted between Feb. 22 and Feb. 24 had already withdrawn.
Cameron Kasky, a 25-year-old survivor of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018 was not included in the poll at all because he had already dropped out on Jan. 14. He said on X that he was dropping out to work with California Congressman Ro Khanna on West Bank emergency relief.
Endorsements are still rolling in. UWS Assemblyman Lasher picked up a key one from billionaire former Mayor Michael Bloomberg who is ready to spend up to $5 million on his former aid’s campaign, the New York Times reported.
“We face extraordinary challenges both at home and abroad,” Bloomberg posted on X on March 12 in making the Lasher endorsement. “At a moment like this, New Yorkers need representatives with the imagination to offer bold new ideas, the experience to get big things done, and the courage to take on the toughest fights.”
Former house speaker Nancy Pelosi had earlier endorsed Schlossberg.
Congressman Jerry Nadler, who had endorsed his former aid Lasher, said at a memorial service for former UWS City Council member Ronnie Eldridge on March 11 that he still expected Lasher to win.
UES Assemblyman Alex Bores picked up an endorsement from one of the three withdrawing candidates, Matthew Shurka, a gay rights advocate.
The other two who are dropping include financial executive Alan Pardee and journalist Jami Boyd, who was the only person of color in the race. Health care activist Nina Schwalbe was hitting the petioning trail over the weekend and is still actively campaigning. Several other candidates seem to have wound down their campaigning, but have not actually dropped out.