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Micah Lasher

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Micah Lasher
Lasher in 2025
Member of the New York State Assembly
from the 69th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2025
Preceded byDaniel J. O'Donnell
Personal details
BornMicah Charles Lasher
(1981-12-18) December 18, 1981 (age 44)
New York City, New York, U.S.
PartyDemocratic
SpouseElizabeth
Children3
EducationNew York University (BA)
WebsiteCampaign website

Micah Charles Lasher (born December 18, 1981)[1] is an American politician serving as a member of the New York State Assembly for District 69 in Manhattan in New York City since 2025.

He was previously the Director of State Legislative Affairs under New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Chief of Staff of NY State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, and the Director of Policy for New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

He is currently running to represent New York's 12th Congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives. He won the Democratic primary on June 23, 2026.

Early life and education

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He was born in Manhattan, in New York City, and his parents are Stephanie Lasher and Albert C. Lasher of Manhattan.[2][3] Lasher grew up on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.[4][5][6]

Lasher was a magic prodigy by the age of 12, and was performing on national television by the age of 13, appearing on the Late Show with David Letterman and on NBC's Today show.[7][8] While a 14-year-old in high school, he authored the 224-page book The Magic Of Micah Lasher: More Than Fifty Tricks That Will Amaze & Delight Everyone Including You (1996).[8][9][10][11]

In 1998 as a 16-year-old student at Stuyvesant High School ('99), he became an editor-in-chief of the school's student newspaper, The Stuyvesant Spectator.[12] In 1999, after the school's assistant principal pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a 15-year-old female student, Lasher condemned the fact that the assistant principal was only sentenced to three years' probation and was receiving a full pension.[13]

He graduated from New York University in 2003 with a degree in sociology.[14] While at NYU, Lasher spent a semester in London, where he was roommates with Aziz Ansari.[15] Before he graduated from college, he was a founding partner of the national political consulting firm SKDKnickerbocker (now called SKDK), advising elected government officials, labor unions, and nonprofits.[7][16][17] The New York Times reported that he "has been called a political whiz kid ever since he helped to found an influential political consulting firm while still in college."[18]

Political career

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Early years

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Lasher's first job, when he was 16 years old and a junior in high school, was as deputy campaign manager for Eric Schneiderman's winning campaign for the New York State Senate in 1998.[19][20][17] When he was 17 years old, he was an informal adviser to New York State Assemblyman Scott Stringer.[17] In 2001, when Lasher was 19, he managed Brad Hoylman-Sigal's campaign for New York City Council out of his dorm room.[4][21] From 2007 to 2009, he worked as a special assistant and chief aide to Jerrold Nadler.[8][16]

In 2009, he was the Executive Director of Public Affairs and a lobbyist for the New York City Department of Education, as well as a trustee of the Community Service Society of New York, an antipoverty organization.[2]

NYC Director of State Legislative Affairs

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From 2010 to 2012, Lasher was Director of State Legislative Affairs, the city's chief lobbyist, for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.[22][18][4][5] During his time in that role, he criticized proposed state budget cuts to the city’s senior centers, which he called "an unusually painful and disproportionate cut to a very vulnerable population," supported a new law under which hundreds of former New York City factory buildings and warehouses were able to become legal residential lofts, and took part in negotiating an agreement creating a new teacher evaluation system.[23][24][25]

Executive Director of StudentsFirstNY

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In 2012, he became the Executive Director of StudentsFirstNY, the New York branch of a national education reform advocacy organization founded to promote the expansion of charter schools and the firing of ineffective teachers, and to oppose tenure.[25] In response to criticism from liberal advocacy groups and labor unions, Lasher said that his group was "a union for students, fighting for a quality teacher for every child," and that the interests of the teacher's union were not always aligned with the interests of schoolchildren.[26]

Chief of Staff of NY State Attorney General

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In 2013, New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman hired Lasher as Chief of Staff, a position in which he managed 1,800 people.[27][28][20] In that role, he he helped coordinate a lawsuit against Donald Trump and Trump University.[29] Lasher also served as an aide and community liaison for Congressman Jerrold Nadler.[4][5]

New York Senate campaign

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In 2016, Lasher ran for the New York Senate in the 31st district, in the northern and western edge of Manhattan, after Adriano Espaillat left the position to successfully run for the U.S. House of Representatives.[30] He was endorsed by The New York Times.[30] Lasher lost to Marisol Alcantara in the Democratic primary election, as she received a plurality of 32.7% of the vote, and Lasher received 31.6% of the vote–294 votes shy of her total.[31] She went on to join the Independent Democratic Conference, a caucus of Democrats who formed a power-sharing arrangement with the Senate Republican Conference.[31]

Sidewalk Labs

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From 2017 to 2020, Lasher worked as Head of Policy and Communications at Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet Google company the goal of which was to innovate technology and urban design to improve cities.[14][27] Sidewalk's primary proposed project, Sidewalk Toronto, was intended to be an innovative reinvention of Toronto's neglected eastern downtown waterfront, and Sidewalks Labs said it did not intend to own the data it gathered in public spaces and instead would relinquish control of the data to an independent organization to be established and named the Civic Data Trust.[32] The proposed project generated controversy in Toronto over data privacy and surveillance and was eventually cancelled by Alphabet which cited economic concerns caused by the uncertainty of the economy experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic .[33][34]

Director of Policy of New York State

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In November 2021, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Lasher as Director of Policy.[35] During his tenure, Lasher participated in shaping and implementing state policy following Hochul’s ascension to the governorship after Andrew Cuomo's resignation. In his role, Lasher helped write a landmark set of gun laws directly after the 2022 Buffalo shooting.[29] He resigned from this role in early 2024 to pursue a campaign for the New York State Assembly.[4][5]

As of 2024, Lasher had served as the chair of the Riverside Park Conservancy, a non-profit organization supporting the maintenance and improvement of Riverside Park.[5][36]

New York State Assembly

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During the 2024 New York State Assembly election, Lasher ran for the 69th district, comprising Manhattan Valley, Morningside Heights, and portions of the Upper West Side and West Harlem.[4] He ran in a crowded five-candidate Democratic primary, securing victory with 53% of the vote, 19 per cent ahead of his closest competitor.[4]

Lasher's campaign focused on addressing housing affordability, advocating for comprehensive public education reforms, and fostering economic equality. He also proposed solutions for addressing zoning and vacant storefront issues in his district. Lasher received endorsements from local elected officials and organizations, including U.S. representatives Jerrold Nadler and Adriano Espaillat, and Manhattan Borough president Mark Levine.[37][4][5] He ran unopposed in the November general election.[36]

In April 2025, Lasher co-sponsored a bill requiring an audit of a state subsidy agreement with Elon Musk's Tesla in order to "identify waste, fraud and abuse committed by private parties to the contract."[38] It would assess whether Tesla is meeting job creation targets, making promised investments, paying sufficient rent, and meeting job training commitments.[38] If Tesla were not in compliance, the state could claw back state benefits,assess penalties, and end contracts.[38] Lasher said: "It is the height of hypocrisy that Elon Musk, the man who is dismantling federal agencies and doing enormous damage on the basis of wildly unsubstantiated claims of waste, fraud and abuse, is the beneficiary of one of the biggest, shadiest subsidy deals of all time,"[38]

Also in April 2025, he was instrumental in rescuing the Metro Theater, a landmark 1933 Art Deco movie theater on Broadway near West 99th Street on the Upper West Side.[39] The movie theater receiving discretionary grants from New York Governor Kathy Hochul, whom he had lobbied, and from the New York State Senate.[39]

In June 2025, amid concern President Trump might seek to strip federal laws governing housing discrimination, a New York State bill that he co-sponsored was adopted by New York State lawmakers.[40] The intent of the bill was to pre-empt any such potential rollback by allowing prosecutors to bring housing discrimination cases based on conditions in residences, rather than them being required to prove intent to discriminate.[40] Lasher said: "It would mean that the state law is no longer weaker than the federal law, and clarify any question now or in the future about whether claims brought under state law must meet some higher burden."[40]

In November 2025, in the wake of a rowdy and chaotic protest at the entryway of Park East Synagogue, which included chants of "Death to the IDF" and "Globalize the intifada," and an exhortation that "We need to make them scared!," Lasher said: "If you are standing outside a synagogue calling for 'intifada revolution,' you are not peacefully protesting. You are trying to intimidate and create fear among Jews, and that is never acceptable.[41]

In December 2025, in the wake of President Trump's "mass deportations", Lasher cosponsored legislation to designate schools, houses of worship, and nonprofit offices as off-limits to federal agents trying to make administrative arrests or arrests without a judicial arrest warrant. That way, he said, "our neighbors can function freely in our communities and deal with the basic needs of life, and do so not in the shadows."[42]

U.S. House of Representatives race

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Main article: 2026 United States House of Representatives elections in New York § District 12

In September 2025, Congressman Jerrold Nadler announced that he would retire from his Congressional seat when his then-current term ended; it was reported that Nadler planned on supporting Lasher in a prospective primary.[43][44] On September 15, Lasher decided to run for Nadler's district.[17][45] The New York Times wrote of the district, New York's 12th congressional district: "Stretching from Union Square through Central Park, the district is home to more Fortune 500 companies, millionaires, and cultural landmarks than perhaps anywhere in the country," is "one of the oldest, best-educated and wealthiest districts in the United States," and that it is "one of the most Democratic congressional districts in the United States."[43][17][46]

Lasher said that his number one priority would be to fight what he has called the Trump administration’s assault on the Constitution of the United States, democratic norms, and vital public programs.[17] His policy proposals also include raising the federal minimum wage, passing “Medicare for All,” and abolishing ICE, which he said had become "the embodiment of a thugocracy " and a "completely unchecked, almost militia-like, organization."[47][17] He believes that Democrats in Congress should be willing to shut down the government instead of funding what he calls the Trump administration’s “fascist policies.”[17] He has also proposed redrawing New York’s congressional district maps in response to redistricting efforts in Republican-led states, and has proposed legislation in that regard.[48] He opposes legislation that would prohibit weapons sales to Israel.[29] After Zohran Mamdani became the nominee of the Democratic Party in his quest to become mayor of New York City, Lasher supported him, while at the same time writing that he hoped that Mamdani "can come to better appreciate the deeply personal and historical importance that the survival of Israel as a Jewish state holds for Jewish New Yorkers. I hope that he is able to see antisemitism when it takes the form of a double-standard being applied to Israel precisely because it is a Jewish state."[17][49]

Lasher was endorsed by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, U.S. representatives Jerry Nadler and Nydia Velázquez, Governor of New York Kathy Hochul, former Governor of New York David Paterson, and former Attorney General of New York Eric Schneiderman.[50][51][52][53][54][17]

Lasher won the Democratic primary on June 23, 2026.[46]

Personal life

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Lasher lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with his family.[4] His wife, whom he married in 2009, is named Elizabeth, and they have three children.[2][55] He is Jewish, and his family is a member of Congregation Rodeph Sholom.[3][56]

Electoral history

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2016

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2016 New York State Senate election, District 31
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Marisol Alcántara 8,469 32.7
Democratic Micah Lasher 8,175 31.5
Democratic Robert Jackson 7,936 30.6
Democratic Luis Tejada 1,316 5.1
Write-in 26 0.1
Total votes 25,922 100.0

2024

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2024 New York State Assembly election, District 69[57][58]
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Micah Lasher 7,410 52.6
Democratic Eli Northrup 4,839 34.4
Democratic Carmen Quinones 832 5.9
Democratic Melissa Rosenberg 671 4.8
Democratic Jack Kellner 293 2.1
Write-in 36 0.2
Total votes 14,081 100.0
General election
Democratic Micah Lasher 48,223 99.1
Write-in 434 0.9
Total votes 48,657 100.0
Democratic hold

References

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  1. ^ "Micah Lasher Voter Registration". New York State Voter Records.
  2. ^ a b c "Elizabeth Mann, Micah Lasher," The New York Times, August 21, 2009.
  3. ^ a b "Election Q&A: Meet NY-12 Candidate Micah Lasher," Patch, June 12, 2026.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kumar, Arundhati; Blum, Gillian (June 27, 2024). "Lasher Wins 69th District Assembly Primary, Northrup Runner Up in Five-Way Race". West Side Spirit. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Saltonstall, Gus (May 30, 2024). "A WSR Conversation With Candidate Micah Lasher in the Run-Up to the UWS, Morningside Heights Assembly Election". West Side Rag. Retrieved November 24, 2024.
  6. ^ "As Life's Questions Get Harder, Magic Casts a Wider Spell," The New York Times, June 13, 1994.
  7. ^ a b "Tradition reigns in one of the richest congressional districts. Or does it?," Yahoo, June 4, 2026.
  8. ^ a b c "From Jewish teen magician to congressional contender: Meet Micah Lasher, Jerry Nadler’s heir apparent," The Forward, September 4, 2025.
  9. ^ Lasher, Micah (September 1, 1996). The Magic Of Micah Lasher: More Than Fifty Tricks That Will Amaze & Delight Everyone Including You. Simon & Schuster Trade. ISBN 9780684813905.
  10. ^ Stein, Joel (April 30, 2026). "Micah Lasher, Child Magician". The Atlantic.
  11. ^ "ABOUT NEW YORK; As Magicians Hone Art, Presto, Woman Appears," The New York Times, December 7, 1994.
  12. ^ "Student Journalists Without a Newspaper; School Halts Publication, Raising Question of First Amendment Rights," The New York Times, April 17, 1998.
  13. ^ "Probation For Teacher Guilty of Abuse At Stuyvesant," The New York Times, August 18, 1999.,
  14. ^ a b Lasher, Micah. "LinkedIn Page of Micah Lasher". LinkedIn. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
  15. ^ Stein, Joel (April 30, 2026). "Micah Lasher, Child Magician". The Atlantic.
  16. ^ a b "Magical wunderkind lobbyist Micah Lasher gets promoted," Chalkbeat, January 21, 2010.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ashford, Grace (September 15, 2025). "Lasher, Nadler's Protégé, Says He Is Running to Succeed His Mentor". New York Times. Retrieved September 19, 2025.
  18. ^ a b "Out With the Old Commissioners, In With the New," The New York Times, February 17, 2010.
  19. ^ "Meet the voters of New York’s 12th Congressional District," cityandstateny, June 15. 2026.
  20. ^ a b "Attorney General Picks Ex-Bloomberg Aide to Be Chief of Staff," The New York Times, March 25, 2013.
  21. ^ "Metropolitan Operatives," City Limits, March 1, 2001.
  22. ^ "Livery Cab Proposal Faces New Uncertainty," The New York Times, December 7, 2011.
  23. ^ "Obscure Budget Proposal Threatens Senior Centers," The New York Times, March 7, 2010.
  24. ^ "That Cheap, Roomy Loft Can Now Be a Legal One, Too," The New York Times, July 25, 2010.
  25. ^ a b "Group Aims to Counter Influence of Teachers’ Union in New York," The New York Times, April 3, 2010.
  26. ^ "New Coalition to Challenge Bloomberg’s Education Policies," The New York Times, May 17, 2012.
  27. ^ a b "Governor Hochul Announces New Administration Appointments," Empire Report, November 22, 2021.
  28. ^ Parsnow, Luke (January 11, 2024). "Micah Lasher leaves post as Hochul's director of policy". Spectrum News 1 Central New York. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  29. ^ a b c "Can a Nerd Still Get Elected to Congress in Manhattan?," The New York Times, June 18, 2026.
  30. ^ a b "Endorsements in New York Primary Races," The New York Times, September 2, 2016.
  31. ^ a b "Alcantara's primary win a major victory for Senate IDC". New York Daily News. September 14, 2016. Retrieved September 3, 2025.
  32. ^ "Sidewalk Labs to weigh suggestions from panel for Toronto smart city project," The Canadian Press, November 9, 2018
  33. ^ Fussell, Sidney (November 21, 2018). "The City of the Future Is a Data-Collection Machine". The Atlantic.
  34. ^ Barth, Brian (August 8, 2018). "The fight against Google's smart city". The Washington Post.
  35. ^ "Governor Hochul Announces New Administration Appointments". www.governor.ny.gov. November 21, 2021. Retrieved March 9, 2025.
  36. ^ a b Silva, Manuela. "Micah Lasher wins primary for State Assembly District 69". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved July 28, 2024.
  37. ^ "The Race Is On: Eli Northrup Post Big Fundraising Haul For UWS Seat," Patch, March 15, 2024.
  38. ^ a b c d "N.Y. Lawmakers Fight Trump With a Proposal Targeting Elon Musk," The New York Times, April 2, 2025.
  39. ^ a b "Upper West Side Theater Is Sold After Governor Allocates $3.5 Million," The New York Times, April 6, 2025.
  40. ^ a b c "N.Y. Lawmakers Target Prison Reform and A.I. in Frantic End of Session,", The New York Times, June 20, 2025.
  41. ^ "Mamdani Response to Protest Inflames Tensions With Jewish Leaders," The New York Times, November 24, 2025.
  42. ^ "Democratic State Lawmakers Vow to Unite and Push Back on Trump’s Deportations ," The New York Times, December 18, 2025.
  43. ^ a b Fandos, Nicholas (September 1, 2025). "Nadler, Pillar of Democratic Party's Old Guard, Will Retire Next Year". New York Times. Retrieved September 1, 2025.
  44. ^ Fandos, Nicholas (September 2, 2025). "A Kennedy, a Protégé and a Progressive Star Eye Nadler's N.Y. House Seat". New York Times. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  45. ^ Barkan, Ross (September 15, 2025). "On Politics: Race to replace Nadler has an early front-runner". Crain's New York Business.
  46. ^ a b "Micah Lasher Wins Manhattan Primary, Defeating Kennedy Heir and Others," The New York Times, June 24, 2026.
  47. ^ "Abolish ICE? It’s a Slogan Some Democratic Critics of ICE Would Abolish," The New York Times, January 15, 2026.
  48. ^ "Who’s Running to Replace Jerry Nadler? 7 People and Counting.," The New York Times, November 19, 2025.
  49. ^ Micah Lasher. "Post", Twitter, June 29, 2025.
  50. ^ Lebowitz, Megan (February 9, 2026). "Rep. Jerry Nadler endorses former aide Micah Lasher to be his successor". NBC News. Retrieved February 9, 2026.
  51. ^ Eichholz, Jack (January 8, 2026). "2026 Endorsement Tracker". VoteHub. Retrieved January 16, 2026.
  52. ^ Levingston, Miranda (April 13, 2026). "Governor Hochul Endorses A Candidate In NY-12's Race". Patch. Retrieved April 13, 2026.
  53. ^ Paterson, David (April 30, 2026). "OP-ED: I'm supporting Micah Lasher for Congress. Here's why". New York Amsterdam News. Retrieved May 29, 2026.
  54. ^ McDonough, Annie (June 15, 2026). "Meet the voters of New York's 12th Congressional District". City & State. Retrieved June 15, 2026.
  55. ^ "Meet Micah Lasher".
  56. ^ Gilson, Grace (July 3, 2025). "A betrayal or politics as usual? A state rep's endorsement of Zohran Mamdani roils Orthodox rabbis on the Upper West Side". JTA. 70 Faces Media. Retrieved September 2, 2025.
  57. ^ "Primary Election 2024 - Democratic Member of the Assembly - 69th Assembly District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved July 19, 2024.
  58. ^ "General Election 2024 - Member of the Assembly - 69th Assembly District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved December 7, 2024.
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