Finally—Primary Day Is Here

My home of district 12—the congressional one, not the Hunger Games one—will be experiencing another year full of political activity and elections in 2026. Post-mayoral election, the election season begins far ahead of the June primaries and November midterms. Nationwide, all 435 seats of the House of Representatives will be up for election, as well as one-third (35) of the Senate. 

These past few months, every eligible voter in the district has been hounded by endless ads on youtube, swarmed with canvassing volunteers (who really are just trying to do their job), and received a multitude of calls from different campaigns. Their mailboxes have been filled with flyers both supporting and denouncing candidates. Their attention has been split in four, five different directions due to the crowded pool of contenders.

All of this has been leading up to today, June 23rd: primary day.

With the current incumbent, Jerry Nadler, retiring after 17 terms in Congress, his seat is newly opened and ripe for the taking. There are currently 8 different candidates vying for the win in the democratic primary, making it an abnormally competitive and packed race.

NY-12 is a solidly democratic district, with a Cook PVI rating of D+33. Whoever wins the primary has a more than likely chance of winning the general election as well. So it’s no surprise why the primary is so competitive: the job is lucrative, with a promise of near life-time employment (recall the 17 terms of Nadler) and more power in Congress than most other representatives receive. The district encompasses much of Manhattan, bridging the west and east sides, and is among the nation's wealthiest and most densely populated.

Outside spending in the democratic primary has reached nearly $40 million as of latest estimates, making it one of the most expensive, if not the number one most expensive. Up to $20 million has been spent from different artificial intelligence groups, transforming it into a national battleground for AI regulation. These funds have all been surrounding Alex Bores, the assemblyman and candidate who passed the RAISE act in New York and will take a pro-regulation stance to the federal level if elected. Tech Super PACs have spent millions opposing him, causing competing PACs in favor of more regulation to spend heavily to counter such attacks.

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg has also spent large in the primary, to back his chosen candidate, Micah Lasher. The one-term assemblyman is his former aide and, alongside Bores, one of the two frontrunners in the race.

Besides the two, the Kennedy scion and media influencer Jack Schlossberg as well as former Republican turned vocal Trump opposer George Conway are also amongst the leading half of the pack.

Polls have shown mixed results, with the various estimates making it a close competition for now. Turnout will be impacted by weather (rainy and 70°) and lower enthusiasm compared to the mayoral election, which drew record numbers.

For voters frustrated about the seemingly never ending flyers and barrage of campaign texts: it will all be over soon. Thank you for exercising your civic duty.

Find your district here, and watch live results via apnews.