Michael Bloomberg is backing Assembly Member Micah Lasher in the Democratic primary to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, injecting a major new endorsement and potentially millions in outside spending into one of the most closely watched congressional races in New York this cycle.
Bloomberg announced his support Thursday in a statement that drew directly on Lasher’s work inside City Hall during the Bloomberg years, when Lasher served as a key liaison between the mayor’s office and Albany.
“We face extraordinary challenges both at home and abroad,” Bloomberg said in the statement. “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. That’s why I will be voting for Micah Lasher for Congress this year.”
Bloomberg credited Lasher specifically with helping secure city funding from the state and advancing gun safety legislation during his time at the Bloomberg administration. “I counted on Micah when I was Mayor, and he delivered for our city,” he said.
The endorsement lands as the crowded June primary for the 12th Congressional District begins to take shape. The district covers the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, and Midtown Manhattan. Nadler, who announced he would not seek re-election, has already given Lasher his blessing, calling on voters to support his former aide as his preferred successor.
Lasher has assembled a substantial institutional coalition beyond Nadler. His backers include City Comptroller Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, Council Member Gale Brewer, and former city Comptroller Scott Stringer. Several influential local Democratic clubs have also lined up behind him, including West Side Democrats, Village Independent Democrats, and the Eleanor Roosevelt Independent Democrats.
The financial picture has been competitive as well. Campaign finance filings through the end of 2025 show Lasher’s operation has brought in roughly $2.52 million in receipts, with a significant share of that money flowing through ActBlue.
Bloomberg’s personal endorsement may matter less, however, than what could follow it. The New York Times reported Thursday that Bloomberg is preparing to direct up to $5 million through a super PAC on Lasher’s behalf, with potential spending on mail, television, and digital advertising. That kind of outside investment, if it materializes, would reshape the financial dynamics of the race considerably.
The primary field remains unsettled. Early public polling has shown Jack Schlossberg and Assembly Member Alex Bores with initial strength in the contest. Lasher and attorney George Conway are running competitively in what remains a fluid situation heading into the summer.
The Bloomberg connection will give Lasher’s opponents something to work with. The former mayor remains a polarizing figure among Democratic primary voters, particularly on the left, and his support is not an uncomplicated asset in a district that leans progressive. Bloomberg’s stop-and-frisk policing policy cast a long shadow over his legacy in communities of color, and his late entry into the 2020 presidential race ended with a resounding defeat after a single debate performance.
For Lasher, the calculation is presumably that Bloomberg’s organizational muscle and financial firepower outweigh any political baggage. Whether primary voters in the 12th agree is a different question.
Lasher has served in the State Assembly representing a Manhattan district and has built his case for Congress around experience in government and the ability to get things done inside complex institutions. That argument fits neatly with Bloomberg’s framing, which emphasizes competence and institutional knowledge over ideological positioning.
The June primary will be the real test. In a field this size, name recognition and money matter enormously, and Lasher now has a strong argument on both fronts. But the voters making this choice will be Democratic primary voters in one of the most competitive and politically engaged congressional districts in the country, and they rarely deliver predictable results.
