Election Day arrived Tuesday for New York City’s 2026 primary races, and Micah Lasher was among eight Democrats trying to win New York’s 12th Congressional District seat now held by Jerrold Nadler. On the Upper West Side, his campaign had one of the largest volunteer and sign presences among the congressional candidates.
The primary opened at 6 a.m. and was scheduled to run until 9 p.m., giving voters a full day to decide which Democrat should succeed Nadler in New York-12. The race drew attention because it sat at the center of the Upper West Side’s political calendar, alongside the Assembly District 69 contest, and because there was no Republican primary in either race.
At the Frank McCourt High School voting site, Stephanie Lasher was out campaigning for her son. She said she was proud that he wanted to serve and believed he was the best equipped of all the candidates to represent the district and lead. She also called him a terrific coalition builder and said she would be happy to have him as her congressman if he won.
But the scene on the ground was thinner than the signs suggested. At most of the polling sites visited, there were more volunteers than voters, a reminder that a strong street presence does not always translate into a crowded line. Still, one voter said it felt like the right decision to keep the congressional seat with a west side candidate, a small sign of how local identity continued to shape the race.
The larger picture is simple: New York-12 was the place to watch on the Upper West Side Tuesday, and Micah Lasher was one of the names trying to turn visibility into votes. What was not clear from the voting-site picture alone was whether that effort was enough to win a race with eight Democrats in it, and the answer would have to come from the count after the polls closed at 9 p.m.
