Analysis
Nadler failed his Jewish base – who will replace him?
The battle to replace him will show how far Democrats have drifted from their once staunchly pro-Israel position
September 12, 2025 16:29
3 min read
The battle to replace him will show how far Democrats have drifted from their once staunchly pro-Israel position
September 12, 2025 16:29Last Monday, 78-year old Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who is Jewish and has served in Congress since 1992, announced this will be his last term. While Democrats now praise Nadler, many Jews won’t miss him.
Nadler, co-chair of the Congressional Jewish Caucus, who supported President Barack Obama’s disastrous Iran deal, backed universities over their Jewish students after October 7, endorsed mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, told The New York Times that “Israel was committing mass murder and war crimes in Gaza “without question,” and he intends “to use congressional authority to block the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel.”
The Democratic primary is what matters in Nadler’s Manhattan district. And since the Forward reported “Nadler’s district has one of the largest Jewish electorates in the country, with Jews accounting for about 30% of Democratic primary voters,” Jewish voters will undoubtedly help shape the district’s new direction. The question is, as the Democratic party abandons long-time Jewish supporters, can New York-12 upgrade its Congressional representation?
Numerous names have already been floated as successors. Among the most famous, City & State New York suggested Israel-boycotting actress and activist Cynthia Nixon, who has Jewish children, as a possibility. Influencer Jack Schlossberg, President John Kennedy’s grandson, who was raised Catholic but identified himself as Jewish while slamming those who “think that Zohran doesn’t like Jews” as “f**king brainwashed,” told the Times he might run. Jewish Insider mentioned hedge fund manager and philanthropist Elisha Wiesel, “son of the Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Elie Wiesel,” who appeared in a 2024 AIPAC ad opposing (former) anti-Israel New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman, criticized “Mamdani’s approach to Israel and antisemitism, [and] had endorsed former Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY)” – who opposed the Iran deal – “when she ran against Nadler in a bitterly contested primary three years ago.”
State Assemblyman Micah Lasher, who is Jewish, previously worked for Nadler, and has already filed paperwork to run, is considered Nadler’s heir apparent. The Forward credited Lasher with introducing a bill “that would implement measures to protect students from harassment and discrimination on college campuses amid rising antisemitism.” However, the bill opposes harassment against myriad groups and has seemingly stalled in the Assembly since February. The Forward referenced a still-underway survey that implied Lasher was poll-testing what his Israel position should be. And Lasher stirred controversy when he “quickly threw Mamdani support after he won the primary and became a sort of liaison between the insurgent candidate and the Democratic establishment,” as Politico reported.
Julie Menin, the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, told TV channel New York 1 last year that she hosted “a townhall on antisemitism” as her first event after being elected New York City Councilwoman in 2021, because she’d already seen “a 300% increase in antisemitic incidents in” her district. Addressing Congress’ work in that interview, Menin supported codifying the definition of antisemitism, creating a national coordinator on antisemitism, and increasing US Department of Justice funding for hate crime investigations. Menin has posted on Instagram about visiting Israel as an elected official and marching in New York’s Israel Day Parade, while demanding the release of Israel’s hostages.
Former hedge fund manager Whitney Tilson, whose family is Jewish, told the Times, “Mamdani is very dangerous,” noting Mamdani’s misapplying the term “genocide” to Israel. Tilson’s 2025 mayoral campaign website promised he’d “speak out against the horrifying explosion of antisemitism we've seen across the city, particularly after October 7.” Tilson supports adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism. He also pledged "to push the United States Department of Homeland Security to beef up their Nonprofit Security Grant Program . . . by 20% (an additional $50 million) to support target hardening” at vulnerable sites, like synagogues.
Finally, Shabbos Kestenbaum, a Kippah-clad political commentator at PragerU, who spoke at the 2024 Republican Convention where he endorsed Donald Trump. Kestenbaum been outspoken about campus Jew-hatred, told me he’s considering running, after Nadler “criticized the hearing [where Kestenbaum testified] and then promptly fell asleep.” He said, “the only way I would run, and win, is by recognizing that our great city is far more complex than binary political labels.” Kestenbaum cited affordability as New Yorkers’ top issue, but said he’d “always be transparent about my beliefs,” which include supporting “Israel over Hamas,” “Jewish students over their campuses,” and “local synagogues and grassroots initiatives over legacy Jewish organizations.”
Choices abound. Now, district Democrats must choose wisely.
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