NY-12 Candidates Battle It Out at “Fiesty” Democratic Debate

The crowded race for New York’s 12th congressional district Democratic nominee is heating up in advance of early voting on June 13 and election day on June 23.

PIX11 News hosted a debate on June 4 with the four frontrunners of a recent Emerson College poll—Assemblymember Micah Lasher (22%); Assemblymember Alex Bores (20%); Kennedy scion and political commentator Jack Schlossberg (11%); and lawyer George Conway (9%).

Other candidates who did not receive enough votes in the poll to be included in the debate are public health researcher Nina Schwalbe (3%); software engineer Chris Diep (1%); civil rights attorney Laura Dunn (1%); and lawyer Patrick Timmins (<1%).

The district includes the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, and Midtown Manhattan, as well as Roosevelt Island. Currently, the district is represented by Congressman Jerry Nadler, who is not seeking reelection and has endorsed Lasher to succeed him.

The race appears to be narrowing down to Lasher and Bores; however, 32% of voters are still undecided, according to the poll.

While fighting to pull over the remaining undecided voters, the candidates also used it as an opportunity to throw shots at each other, leading to what Bores described as a “fiesty” debate.

Critiques mainly revolved around the amount of super PAC funding that has flooded into the race, which has largely benefited Bores and Lasher.

However, there were several points that the candidates agreed on unanimously, including supporting efforts to impeach President Donald Trump, increasing taxes on people making $1 million or more a year, and banning congressional stock trading.

Locally, they also supported removing former mayor Ed Koch’s name from the 59th Street Bridge due to his administration’s handling of the 1980s AIDS crisis.

Here’s what else the candidates had to say.

On A.I.

The debate began with a topic that has captivated many of the nation’s midterm races: A.I.

But the issue was specifically relevant to this race. Bores has become known as the A.I.-regulation candidate, which has pulled in millions in super PAC funding, both for and against him.

One of the super PACs in favor of Bores, Public First Action, is backed by the A.I. company Anthropic. Though Anthropic has leaned heavily towards the stance of stricter A.I. regulation, the connection has drawn some controversy.

Furthermore, residents within the district are especially at risk of job displacement because of the technology. When asked how each candidate would curb A.I.’s effect on the district’s job market, Lasher took the opportunity to posit himself as being tougher on A.I.

“There is one candidate on this stage that has been standing up to big tech for more than a decade,” Lasher said. “That candidate is not Alex. That candidate is me.”

Lasher mentioned how he has voted in favor of A.I. regulation previously and pointed out the sources of the super PACs supporting Bores.

In response, Bores disregarded Lasher’s claims as fuel funded by Trump megadonors. He then got into his plan, which involved strategies such as a token tax on the use of A.I. He also proposed taking ownership stakes in A.I. companies.

In addition to also calling out Bores’ funding sources, Schlossberg proposed giving A.I. ownership to workers who help train A.I. models only to become replaced by them.

Conway agreed that more needs to be done to combat job loss from A.I., including taxing companies that replace jobs with the technology.

Despite having negative views of A.I. companies and how the technology is displacing workers, when asked when each candidate last used A.I., for everyone, the answer was rather recently.

On Energy

The candidates also discussed the cost of energy, which has been rising as A.I. data centers drive demand for electricity and the war in Iran restrains oil supply.

The city’s main energy provider, Con Edison, gained approval to raise electricity rates by 10% and gas rates by 15% over the next three years. As to how the candidates would slow these rising prices, answers were mainly in agreement.

Schlossberg said he is in favor of requiring data centers built for A.I. to provide their own renewable energy.

Lasher, Bores, and Conway stated that renewing the move towards green energy would be a necessity to lower utility bills. These efforts have been stifled by the Trump administration, which Conway said was a roadblock in his response.

“But again, how are we going to do that when Donald Trump, who thinks that windmills cause cancer, is still president?” Conway asked.

On Immigration

While all candidates supported banning private immigration detention contracts, tensions rose again during this question when Schlossberg brought up Bores’ previous employment history.

During Trump’s first term, Bores worked for Palantir, the software firm that has been a contractor for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since 2011. Candidates sparred over the cause of Bores’ departure from the company, a topic that has been a target of the Think Big PAC, a pro-A.I. super PAC that has been pouring in money against Bores.

Bores countered this point several times.

“I quit Palantir because of the work with ICE,” Bores said. “That was when I was a private citizen. I put my morals over my career.”

On the Israeli–Palestinian conflict

When the question turned to the conflict occurring between Israel and Palestine and whether candidates think the U.S. should continue to support Israel militarily, Lasher and Bores both treaded lightly, emphasizing instead that the U.S. should focus on diplomatic efforts.

However, Schlossberg took a more direct stance on the question, focusing more on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

“I don’t think the United States should have any part in perpetuating that violence,” Schlossberg said. “I support legislation to stop sending offensive weapons to Israel.”

Conway said he didn’t agree with everything Israel does, but he disagreed with Schlossberg and said he would not support a ban on sending defensive or offensive weapons to Israel.

Though all of the candidates addressed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, none said they felt comfortable calling it a genocide, the term the United Nations uses in reference to the situation.

Closing remarks

During their 60 seconds for closing remarks, candidate Conway used his last remarks to once again reaffirm his main stance on being anti-Trump.

“I’m only going to do this for one term, for one principal purpose: to get us back to normality,” Conway said.

Schlossberg discussed the current dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party and said that new voices were essential to regain the public’s confidence.

“The Democratic Party needs to do what it has always done, which is challenge the status quo,” Schlossberg said. “Elect a new generation of leaders with new vision, freshness, and new ideas.”

After spending much of the debate defending himself, Bores attempted to redefine the other candidates’ critiques as a distraction.

“This is a chance to look the people trying to buy this seat out from under us and say they don’t get to decide it,” Bores said. “New York 12 deserves more than establishment, entitlement, or even entertainment.”

Lasher attempted to instill confidence in voters and listed some of the other endorsements he has received, including Governor Kathy Hochul, former mayor Mike Bloomberg, and several unions.

“This moment and this extraordinary district demands uncompromising leadership,” Lasher said. “A member of Congress who’s done the work, and who knows how to fight back.”

As to who performed the best during the debate, an informal poll on PIX11 News’ website revealed another close contest. Of 1,417 respondents, 40% said Bores won, while 38% said Lasher. Schlossberg trailed behind at 21%, and Conway came in last with 1% of the vote.