JFK's grandson got crushed by voters in New York's 12th District Tuesday, finishing a distant third with just 10.8% of the vote — proof that a famous last name doesn't buy you a seat in Congress anymore.
Jack Schlossberg's thumping rejection is more than a personal rebuke. It's a signal that even in deep-blue Manhattan, voters are weary of hereditary privilege. The founders broke from a king and designed a republic where citizens govern themselves — not where bloodlines and brand names serve as qualifying credentials. Schlossberg, 33, had never held public office. What he had was a pedigree, a Pelosi endorsement, and a campaign that at times seemed more focused on social media stunts than on the people he wanted to represent.
State Assemblyman Micah Lasher won the Democratic primary with 39% of the vote, edging fellow Assemblyman Alex Bores at 35%, according to the Associated Press. George Conway — the Lincoln Project co-founder better known for his Twitter feed than any legislative record — managed just 6.1% in fifth place. The seat is being vacated by Rep. Jerry Nadler, who is retiring after 17 terms.
The sharpest moment of the race came when Lasher called the dynasty play straight to Schlossberg's face. "When we talk about the reasons that each of us are on this stage, I'm on this stage because of nearly two decades in public service," Lasher said during a debate. Schlossberg shot back: "I have made my way here myself. Do not ever invoke my family name to try to denigrate who I am." Voters apparently weren't persuaded. The Daily Caller noted that Schlossberg's campaign platform included abolishing ICE and providing transgender medical procedures to anyone who seeks them — positions that read more like a progressive wish list than a district-level agenda.
Then there was the behavior. Schlossberg posted on X that Second Lady Usha Vance was "way hotter" than his late grandmother, Jackie Kennedy Onassis — the kind of stunt that might get engagement but doesn't exactly scream serious legislator. Forbes reported on what it called a "disorderly campaign and sometimes volatile behavior" from the first-time candidate.
NBC News framed the race largely as an AI-industry proxy war, and the spending was staggering. Think Big, a super PAC tied to the group Leading the Future and backed by OpenAI's Greg Brockman, Marc Andreessen, and Palantir's Joe Lonsdale, dumped at least $8 million against Bores, who authored New York's RAISE Act imposing AI safety requirements. Anthropic-backed groups spent nearly $7 million defending him. Bloomberg piled at least $10 million into boosting Lasher, his former employee. Bores fought back: "This race started with AI megadonors pledging $10 million to stop me because they were afraid after I passed the strongest AI safety law in the country."
Schlossberg tried to have it both ways on the AI fight, claiming Bores' regulation would be "a dream come true" for tech companies — a line that didn't land with voters who watched millions from Silicon Valley flood the race on all sides.
The question now is whether Schlossberg's humiliation marks a broader turning point. For decades, name recognition and family connections have been the safest bet in American politics. Tuesday night, a Kennedy scion couldn't break 11 percent. The dynasty door isn't locked yet — but voters are pushing it shut.
