George Conway, a prominent critic of President Donald Trump and the former husband of Trump’s 2016 campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, has filed to run for Congress.
Conway, 62, submitted paperwork on Monday, Dec. 22, launching a bid for New York’s 12th Congressional District — a Manhattan-based seat currently held by longtime Rep. Jerry Nadler. His entry adds to an already crowded Democratic primary field that includes at least 10 other candidates, among them Jack Schlossberg — the only grandson of President John F. Kennedy — and March for Our Lives organizer Cameron Kasky.
Conway previewed his decision in an interview clip shared on Instagram on Saturday, Dec. 20, telling The Bulwark’s Sarah Longwell that the campaign could be “either the stupidest thing I’ve ever done, or the best thing.”
Although he is running as a Democrat, Conway was a Republican until 2018 and was once offered a position at the Department of Justice — an offer he declined. Over time, his outspoken opposition to Trump frequently put him at odds with Kellyanne Conway, whom he married in 2001. The two share four children and divorced in 2023.
In 2020, Conway helped launch the Lincoln Project, a political action committee focused on defeating Trump in that year’s presidential election. He has remained a visible critic during Trump’s second term as well.
“One of the big reasons why a lot of us grew up as conservatives is we were afraid that if you give too much power to the government, someone bad could come in and use it for their own personal gratification and empowerment,” Conway told Longwell. “And here we are. This is exactly it.”
Schlossberg, 32, announced his own campaign bid earlier, sharing the news in an email to supporters and in an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday, Nov. 11.
“There is nothing our party can’t do to address costs of living, corruption and the constitutional crisis that we’re in,” he told the Times. “But without the control of Congress, there’s almost nothing that we can do.”
Schlossberg, previously known for politically charged online posts on X and Instagram, has taken a more serious tone in recent years amid the political rise of his relative Robert F. Kennedy Jr. After a long-shot presidential run in 2024, Kennedy was appointed as Trump’s secretary of health and human services.
Schlossberg has been a frequent critic of Kennedy’s alignment with the MAGA movement, and last month accused Trump of being so “obsessed” with the Kennedy family that he “caged” a “rabid” member for his Cabinet.
While Schlossberg is not automatically the frontrunner to replace Nadler, a victory would place him in a familiar family tradition: JFK began his political career in the House of Representatives, representing Massachusetts for six years before serving as a U.S. senator and later president.
