George Conway, a prominent critic of President Donald Trump, said Tuesday that he is running for a U.S. House seat in New York City, aiming to win a Democratic primary for an open seat left by Rep. Jerrold Nadler’s retirement.
The race is expected to draw a large field of Democrats competing to replace Nadler, a longtime fixture of New York’s congressional delegation. Conway said he relocated back to Manhattan after living in Bethesda, Maryland, and framed the move as a chance to bring his anti-Trump profile to Congress.
Conway said he became interested in the candidacy after a conversation with a friend about the frustration some Democrats felt with their decision to vote to end last year’s government shutdown. He said he did not want to challenge his congressman in Maryland, Rep. Jamie Raskin, whom he said he loves.
Instead, Conway said the friend suggested he look at a Manhattan seat that would become vacant when Nadler retires. Conway said he then searched the vacancy on Wikipedia and concluded it was an open seat—prompting him to consider running.
In an interview, Conway said, “It was like, huh, it’s an open seat. This isn’t crazy. I should think about this,” describing the decision as straightforward once he saw the opening.
In a campaign launch video, Conway, 62, positioned himself as a seasoned Trump foe and said, “This is no ordinary time. And I will not be an ordinary member of Congress.” He also argued that his experience as an attorney would allow him to continue his yearslong fight against Trump from Congress, and he said he did not want to be a career politician but felt that “this is a moment where we need people who can fight Trump the way he needs to be battled.”
Conway, a former Republican, helped found the anti-Trump Lincoln Project. He supported Trump’s 2016 presidential run before breaking with the president publicly as Trump’s first term progressed, with Conway’s criticism described as intensifying at the same time that his then-wife, Kellyanne Conway, remained a top defender in Trump’s orbit.
The article said Trump responded at one point by calling Conway “a stone cold LOSER & husband from hell!” Conway and Kellyanne Conway announced their divorce in 2023, writing in a statement that their marriage had included “many happy years.”
The district Conway is hoping to represent is considered solidly Democratic, consisting of Midtown Manhattan and the Upper East and Upper West sides. Nadler, 78, last year said he would not run for reelection and called for generational change in Congress, a planned exit that has helped set off a wave of candidates.
Other Democrats mentioned in the article seeking to take over Nadler’s seat include Micah Lasher, Cameron Kasky and Jack Schlossberg.