Representative Jerrold Nadler was still wavering over whether to retire from a storied career in Congress last February when he attended the swearing-in ceremony for Micah Lasher, a new Manhattan assemblyman.
The program featured a parade of more-seasoned Nadler protégés, but Mr. Lasher’s remarks made an impression on the congressman’s wife, Joyce Miller. They were full of outrage at President Trump, but also the kind of strategic legislative responses that have been Mr. Nadler’s hallmark.
“As we walked out,” he recalled in an interview, “my wife turned to me and said, ‘He’s your successor.’”
The possibility helped ease Mr. Nadler’s decision to announce his retirement last fall after three decades in Washington. Now, he is ready to publicly endorse Mr. Lasher in the race to fill his coveted, safely Democratic seat in the heart of Manhattan.
“He’s brilliant,” Mr. Nadler said. “He’s dedicated to civil liberties and civil rights, as I am, and he’s done a great job at every job he’s held.
“I think he’s the class of the field,” he added.
The endorsement, which will be rolled out in a video on Monday morning, could help distinguish Mr. Lasher from a crowded field. Other Democrats running in the June primary include Jack Schlossberg, a grandson of former President John F. Kennedy; Alex Bores a tech-savvy assemblyman from the East Side; and George T. Conway III, an anti-Trump cable news fixture who was once married to the president’s campaign manager.
Each has his own assets. Mr. Schlossberg, 33, has used his family’s standing to win the endorsement of Nancy Pelosi of California, the former House speaker with whom Mr. Nadler has sometimes clashed. Mr. Conway, 62, has a large online following. And Mr. Bores, 35, has gained national attention as a player in the high-stakes fight over regulating artificial intelligence.
Mr. Nadler’s imprimatur unquestionably positions Mr. Lasher in the inside lane. But it remains to be seen how much influence old-guard Democrats like Mr. Nadler still have in choosing their successors. (Ms. Pelosi weighed in without consulting Mr. Nadler.)
Democratic voters are bridling at older lawmakers’ hold on the party and have increasingly turned toward less traditional candidates. Then again, few incumbents remain more popular at home than Mr. Nadler, a fixture of Manhattan politics who served as a leading foil to Mr. Trump during his two impeachments.
Mr. Nadler’s district, covering much of Manhattan, is liberal, but democratic socialists have struggled to gain their footing there. A private poll conducted last fall, which was described to The New York Times, found that 67 percent of Democratic primary voters approved of the job the congressman was doing.
Mr. Lasher, 44, said he hoped to emulate Mr. Nadler’s approach, if elected.
“What has made Jerry so beloved is not that everyone agrees with every position he takes,” he said. “But that his constituents know that he always approaches issues with deep thoughtfulness and comes to his views on the merits.”
In the interview, Mr. Nadler was dismissive of other candidates in the race.
He asserted that Mr. Schlossberg, who has a head-turning social media presence, was outright unqualified and suggested that his family name was worth less than some thought.
“He’s a nice guy, and he comes from a nice family, but what’s his experience for this job?” Mr. Nadler asked. “No, I don’t think people ought to support him. I don’t think they will support him.”
He cast doubt on whether Mr. Conway, a conservative lawyer turned anti-Trump activist, was liberal enough to represent one of the most Democratic districts in the United States.
“He became anti-Trump, that’s true,” Mr. Nadler said. “But I assume all the candidates hate Trump. I don’t think people are going to go to someone whose basic philosophy is conservative.”
He had less to say about Mr. Bores: “He’s an assemblyman. I’m not all that familiar with his record,” the congressman said.
Mr. Nadler and Mr. Lasher met when Mr. Lasher was a precocious teenager working on the campaigns of West Side Democrats allied with Mr. Nadler. The congressman’s 13-year-old son worked under Mr. Lasher on one such campaign.
Mr. Lasher later worked as Mr. Nadler’s community liaison, before going on to stints working as former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s top lobbyist in Albany and as Gov. Kathy Hochul’s policy director.
Both men are proudly progressive and more cerebral than charismatic, and they worship at neighboring synagogues on the Upper West Side.
“Nobody can choose their successor,” said Mr. Nadler, who recently began sittings for his official House portrait. “You can endorse. You can recommend. But it’s up to the people.”
The congressman batted away any suggestion that Mr. Lasher — a policy wonk and career government official — would lose votes because he was not the flashiest politician. “Well, neither am I,” he said with a smile.
Nicholas Fandos is a Times reporter covering New York politics and government.
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