City Council Member Erik Bottcher threw his hat in the ring on Thursday for next year’s increasingly crowded Democratic primary to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, whose 12th Congressional District covers much of central Manhattan from west to east.
Bottcher, 46, who has represented west Manhattan neighborhoods including Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen since 2022, is pitching himself as the “strongest candidate” in the race for taking on what he described as Republican President Donald Trump’s “corruption, chaos, cruelty and incompetence.”
He enters a packed field that already includes Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy; Assembly Members Micah Lasher and Alex Bores (D-Manhattan); and nonprofit founder Liam Elkind. Among those candidates, Lasher is Nadler’s chosen successor.
“I love my country and I love my city, and I’m terrified and angry about what’s happening in our country — and things need to change quickly,” Bottcher told amNewYork in an interview. “I’m not going to stand by while [the city is] torn apart by an autocrat in the White House, who has openly suggested throwing out the United States Constitution.”
The 12th Congressional District was redrawn in the 2022 redistricting to cover much of Manhattan from above 14th Street to below Harlem. That includes voter-rich neighborhoods like the Upper West and Upper East Sides as well as Midtown.
Bottcher made his candidacy official after launching an exploratory committee to begin fundraising early last month, Gay City News reported. His campaign reported raising nearly $700,000 in the first 24 hours after opening the committee.
In his campaign launch video, Bottcher is highlighting his struggles with growing up LGBTQ+ in an Adirondack Mountains town, where he says he faced bullying and attempted to take his own life five times as a teenager. He said moving to the Big Apple “saved” his life because he was able to find acceptance and get involved politically here.
“It was in New York City where I found a community, I found a place that accepted me,” Bottcher said. “Just like people have for 400 years. And I’ve dedicated my life to giving back to the city that saved mine.”
The west side lawmaker pointed to a 2022 incident in which he documented a group of protesters vandalizing his home with homophobic graffiti and attacking one of his neighbors over his support for drag story hour events as evidence of how he can stand up to Trump and the GOP Congressional majority. The protesters also descended on Bottcher’s district office, banging on the door and vandalizing it.
“Extreme MAGA right-wing thugs broke into my apartment building,” Bottcher said of the incident. “Two of them were arrested in my lobby. A third one was arrested for assaulting my neighbor. I stared them down. I didn’t back down, and we held them accountable.”
Bottcher is also running on his record over his four years in the council. That includes legislation he passed to expand mental health services in homeless shelters and his support for large-scale rezonings in his district that will add thousands of new housing units.
“We need people with a proven track record of producing results,” he said. “I’m someone who’s taken advocacy and translated it into legislation, translated it into tangible results for our community.”
Despite the crowded race, Bottcher said he is “very confident” about his chances.
The 78-year-old Nadler announced in September that he would not seek reelection after serving 32 years in Congress, making way for a new generation. All of the candidates who have announced thus far are either Millennials or Gen Z.
NY-12 is one of a couple of Congressional primaries next year that are shaping up to be highly competitive.
Another race attracting buzz is the primary for Congressional District 10, a Manhattan and Brooklyn district currently represented by Democrat Dan Goldman.
Outgoing City Comptroller Brad Lander and City Council Member Alexa Avilés have both indicated they are seriously considering challenging Goldman from the left.
