NEW YORK — Rep. Jerry Nadler appears likely to oust his onetime ally, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, in New York’s Democratic primary on Tuesday, with his national name recognition as a lawmaker who pressed the case for twin Trump impeachment efforts seemingly besting her regional appeals.
Nadler, who said Saturday that he felt “positive,” “optimistic,” and “confident” — with his campaign on the “precipice of something very special” — enjoys a roughly double-digit lead over Maloney in recent polling, suggesting his focus on national issues, such as his pursuit of former President Donald Trump and his congressional voting record, is more salient for voters than Maloney’s focus on regional matters.
“Our democracy is in peril. We have a Republican Party that is openly and proudly insurrectionist. The Supreme Court has been packed by McConnell and Trump and is doing all it can to roll back Americans’ fundamental rights,” Nadler, dubbed the “general counsel of the Resistance” by state Sen. Brad Hoylman, told a crowd of roughly 150 people on Saturday.
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Maloney, whose previous district makes up approximately 61% of the newly drawn 12th, has been more eager to tout local issues, citing her victories on “the Second Avenue subway, the only subway that’s been built since” she assumed office, “the East Side Access, [which] is opening next year,” and “the beautification of our Esplanade,” a nearly 10-mile waterfront greenway on Manhattan’s Upper East Side paralleling Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive that is suitable for walking or biking.
“The two largest construction projects not in New York, not in New York state, but in the whole country, are in my district,” she said.
The congresswoman, who has played up her status as the sole woman representing Manhattan in Congress, has made ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment a focal point of her campaign, a sell that appears to have fallen on deaf ears given Nadler’s stated support for the amendment. Like Maloney, Nadler has favored legislation removing the deadline for ratifying the ERA, saying a bill to that effect was “long overdue legislation.”
“We are on the brink of making history, and no deadline should stand in the way. … This resolution will ensure, at long last, that the Equal Rights Amendment can take its rightful place as part of our Nation’s Constitution,” he said in 2021.
Nadler, by contrast, has highlighted substantive differences with Maloney, emphasizing his votes in favor of the Iran nuclear deal and in opposition to the Patriot Act in the Iraq War while she held contrary views.
“He has always done what is right when others were afraid to do it,” New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who has endorsed the congressman, told Nadler supporters Saturday.
Attempting to siphon off support from both members of Congress is businessman Suraj Patel, likely to receive around 15% of the vote, according to recent polling. Patel, who frames himself as an optimistic, fresh face ready to represent a new generation of New Yorkers, has struggled to gain traction, with his message often drowned out by titans Nadler and Maloney. The candidate himself has had difficulty resisting references to his opponents, mentioning them in his final appeal to voters.
“One campaign is talking about the future. Two campaigns are talking about the past. They’re bickering, and elections ought to be about the future,” Patel told the Washington Examiner at his Sunday ice cream truck rally on 59th Street and First Avenue.
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An aggressive map signed by New York Gov. Kathy Hochul that would have locked in an expected 22-4 partisan advantage for Democrats was stricken by a series of courts, forcing Democratic lawmakers into awkward games of musical chairs with onetime allies, including Nadler and Maloney, who previously worked together frequently to advance progressive legislation.
New York’s 12th Congressional District has a partisan voter index of D+68, meaning whoever wins the Democratic nomination is expected to win the general election in November by a large margin.
