When Jack Schlossberg heard that longtime liberal Rep. Jerry Nadler planned to retire, the youthful social media influencer was sitting in his souped-up van that he planned to use to hopscotch across the nation to boost Democrats in swing districts during the midterms.
The 33-year-old grandson of slain President John F. Kennedy quickly decided to shift gears and become a candidate himself for the NY-12 district.
“I was ready to go to all the swing states, then I looked at my phone and saw the news,” Schlossberg told the Daily News. “I paused and said to myself: ‘This is where I’m from, this is my back yard. What would I have to do to run for this seat?’”
Schlossberg quickly started setting up a campaign to replace Nadler, who said he wanted to make way for a younger generation of Democratic leaders in Washington, D.C.
“I could only ever run from this district. It is a map of my childhood and my adult life,” said Schlossberg, who is from the Upper East Side and attended the elite Collegiate School on West 77th Street. “I couldn’t think of anything better for me to do, to make a contribution.”
He says his famous name gives him the opportunity and obligation to make a bigger impact speaking out against President Trump’s right-wing policies.
“The big platform I was born with, I’m only interested in using it to lift up other people and speaking out for them,” Schlossberg said. “Trump is dismantling so many things and we cannot just stand by and let them crumble.”
Schlossberg is fighting what polls say is a tight battle against fellow Assemblyman Micah Lasher, who is Nadler’s hand-picked choice; Assemblyman Alex Bores, who stresses his plans to push for regulation of artificial intelligence; and George Conway, a strident critic of President Trump.
The winner is almost sure to win the seat in November over token Republican opposition in the deep-blue district spanning the Upper East Side and Upper West Side that Nadler held for more than three decades.
Schlossberg admits not having the experience in elected office or policy chops that his rival candidates have. But by building a formidable social media presence, Schlossberg boasts that he has cracked the code for reversing Democrats’ woes with younger and working class voters who have drifted toward Trump.
“I’ve shown I can reach people that others haven’t been able to,” he said. “New York is a spotlight and I’m uniquely ready to bring our message to the entire nation.”
He shrugs off criticism of some of his edgier social media posts (he mused about bedding Second Lady Usha Vance).
“Nothing is more vulgar, more offensive than the corruption and violence that we see from the White House every day,” he said.