Micah Lasher

Micah Lasher is the Democratic nominee in New York's 12th Congressional District and a New York State Assembly member representing District 69 on Manhattan's Upper West Side. A lifelong West Side resident, he worked in city, state and congressional offices, including as chief of staff to the New York Attorney General and Director of Policy for Governor Kathy Hochul, before winning his Assembly seat in 2024. He won the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary for the seat Rep. Jerry Nadler is leaving.[1][2][3]

Lasher was born on December 18, 1981, in Manhattan and grew up on the Upper West Side; the State Assembly's biography says he has spent his life on the West Side, and he lives there with his wife, Elizabeth, and their three children.[2][3] He graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1999 and from New York University in 2003 with a degree in sociology.[3] His early career included work as an aide to U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler and as an executive director of public affairs at the New York City Department of Education, followed by service as Director of State Legislative Affairs for New York City under Mayor Michael Bloomberg from 2010 to 2012.[2][3] He became Chief of Staff to New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in 2013.[2][3]

Lasher ran for the New York State Senate in the 31st District in 2016 and lost the Democratic primary to Marisol Alcantara by about 1 percentage point, 32.7% to 31.6%.[3] From 2017 to 2020 he was Head of Policy and Communications at Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet company.[3] Governor Kathy Hochul appointed him Director of Policy in November 2021, and he left the role in early 2024 to run for the Assembly; according to the Assembly's biography, he helped write New York's gun-safety laws after the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings and legislation protecting abortion providers and patients.[2][3] He won the 2024 Democratic primary for Assembly District 69 in a five-candidate field, was elected that November, and took office in 2025.[2][3]

Lasher entered the NY-12 race in September 2025 after Rep. Nadler announced his retirement, and he won the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary over Alex Bores, George Conway and Jack Schlossberg, among others.[1][3] Outside government, he served ten years on the board of the Riverside Park Conservancy, including as chair from 2019 to 2024, and on the boards of Everytown for Gun Safety and the Community Service Society, where he was vice chair.[2]

Researched from the cited sources on 2026-10-21.