John F Kennedy’s 33-year-old grandson is preaching radical change as he mounts an unorthodox campaign for the Democratic nomination to run for Congress in New York’s 12th districtJack Schlossberg has been unsparing in his criticism of Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy jnr. Photograph: Mel Musto/Bloomberg via Getty Images Fri Jun 19 2026 - 07:26 • 6 MIN READThere’s a plaque on 79th street between Columbus and Amsterdam, just a few minutes’ walk from the American Museum of Natural History, marking the address of the apartment formerly owned by the late Philip Roth, who for decades was the most celebrated resident on the block. “The writer was as fierce as the man was generous; an enemy of cant, an advocate of freedom in all its guises, personal and political” reads the Historic Landmarks dedication. It’s a sedate section of a city in constant reinvention and many or Roth’s haunts and evocations of the city as neighbourhood – Nice Matin, the brasserie on the corner; Zabar’s, the deli and delicatessen on the corner of 80th and Broadway that has been a neighbourhood fixture for 90 years, and the benches by the Natural History Museum where Roth himself sat – are unchanged. The Upper West Side is a key catchment for the crowded field competing for the congressional Democratic primary election for the city’s 12th district – and maintaining the sense of neighbourhood so vital in Roth’s work is an underlying theme in the race.It’s a high-profile election, partly because the 12th covers a large swathe from the bouji upper east and west sides and down as far as Hudson Yards. But it has also caught the national eye because 33-year-old Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of the late Democratic president John Fitzgerald Kennedy, is running an unorthodox and decidedly 21st-century campaign that has him vying for the lead. Congressional elections are different in that visitors and tourists crowd the streets entirely oblivious to the fact that Manhattan is on the threshold of a primary. There are no posters or paraphernalia, with the struggle for voter-loyalty playing out through digital media campaigns and time-honoured boots-on-ground mileage: an old-new hybrid that Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral campaign used to spur a groundswell of support.But wandering up Amsterdam on Wednesday, I come across Grace Peacore distributing leaflets for Micah Lasher, who often places nose-for-nose with Schlossberg in the fluctuating polls. Other leading contenders include Alex Bores, also a state assembly member, who is pushing a tax on second homes. The contrast between Lasher and Schlossberg frames the range of choices for New Yorkers: a proven state politician with two decades of experience or a fresh voice preaching radical change and with a bloodline connection to the mythical era of Democratic Washington. “This is a very engaged district,” Peacore, who is the communications director for Lasher, says of the Upper West Side.“Voters here are highly educated, know a lot about what is going on and what they want in a Congress member. The West Side is voter rich, meaning there is a high turnout. People here really do want someone who will fight against Trump and restore our democracy in Washington. I also think that even though it is a high-income district, people are really focused on affordability in this city and making sure the next generation can stay here and raise families here. So, first jobs, first homes are important.”Jack Schlossberg hopes to win a Congress seat in a part of New York that traditionally elects a Democratic candidate. Photograph: Sabrina Santiago/The New York Times