George Conway, a former Republican who has become an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump, on Tuesday announced a run for a U.S. House seat representing Midtown Manhattan.
Conway, a conservative lawyer and commentator who helped found the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, jumps into a crowded Democratic primary that includes the grandson of former president John F. Kennedy and other lifelong Democrats. He announced his run on the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot to highlight what he called Trump’s disdain for the rule of law.
“He believes in no principle, no rule, no law, no other human being, no restraint, no morality,” Conway said in an interview. “He only believes in himself, and January 6 was the perfect example of that.”
The candidate centered his fight with Trump in his launch video, where he says he “paid a price” for standing up to the president, and says he knows “how to fight these people.”
The 12th District is a deep-blue swath of New York City that has attracted interest from a bevy of candidates. The Democratic race already includes Jack Schlossberg, a well-known social media personality, former Vogue political correspondent and grandson of John F. Kennedy; New York State Assembly members Micah Lasher and Alex Bores; activist Cameron Kasky, a survivor of the 2018 Parkland school shooting; journalist Jami Floyd; and nonprofit group founder Liam Elkind.
Conway decided to run to replace longtime liberal leader Jerry Nadler (D-New York) after fellow anti-Trump commentator Molly Jong-Fast encouraged him to while he was sitting in his home last November in Bethesda, Maryland, he said. Conway soon rented an apartment in New York, where he worked for 30 years as a lawyer and where his four children were born. Late last year, Conway filed paperwork to run for the seat.
Conway, 62, only recently registered as a Democrat but is well known among liberals as a vocal Trump critic whose trolling style has occasionally appeared to get under the president’s skin. Conway grew highly critical of Trump during the president’s first term after supporting his campaign — as his then-wife, Kellyanne Conway, remained a top adviser to Trump. He branded Trump “Deranged Donald” and questioned whether his actions were constitutional, while Trump declared that “Mr. Kellyanne Conway” was a “stone cold LOSER.”
The Conways announced in 2023 that they would divorce, calling the split “amicable.”
Conway said he believes the nation needs a “second Reconstruction,” referring to the period of political and social overhaul after the Civil War, and wants to join the House to lead that charge and lend his experience as a lawyer to the effort.
“We need people in Congress who are not willing to mince words about it, who are willing to talk about it in blunt terms, and who have the wherewithal and the skills to do something about it,” he said.
Hannah Knowles and Amy B Wang contributed to this report.
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