Michael R. Bloomberg, New York City’s billionaire former mayor, is preparing to spend millions of dollars on a super PAC boosting one of his former aides in the race for a coveted Manhattan House seat, according to people familiar with his plans.
The intervention is designed to help the former aide, Assemblyman Micah Lasher, distinguish himself from a crowded and star-studded field of Democrats competing to succeed Representative Jerrold Nadler, who is retiring.
Mr. Bloomberg publicly endorsed Mr. Lasher Thursday afternoon. But the people familiar with his plans, who were not authorized to discuss them, said that the former mayor also planned to follow up with a spending blitz to promote Mr. Lasher via mail, TV and digital advertising.
The planned ad campaign, which has not been previously reported, could begin in a matter of days. One of the people said the spending could total around $5 million. Other details were not immediately available.
The primary contest was already shaping up to be one of the most closely watched and expensive in the United States. The district is safely Democratic, but is among the wealthiest and most educated in the country, home to Fortune 500 companies, Broadway, media empires and a large network of donors.
Ambitious Democrats have crowded in ahead of the June primary. They include Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of President John F. Kennedy; George Conway, a former supporter of President Trump turned high-profile critic; Assemblyman Alex Bores; and Nina Schwalbe, a public health expert.
Mr. Lasher, who has spent most of his career as a political strategist and policy aide, worked for Mr. Bloomberg directly as the city’s top lobbyist in Albany during his tenure as mayor.
“We face extraordinary challenges both at home and abroad,” Mr. Bloomberg wrote in a post on X Thursday afternoon endorsing Mr. Lasher. “At a moment like this, New Yorkers need representatives with the imagination to offer bold new ideas, the experience to get big things done, and the courage to take on the toughest fights.”
Stu Loeser, a spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg, declined to comment on the former mayor’s spending plans.
Polls, many of them financed by interested parties, suggest the race is still taking shape, with no candidate receiving more than 25 percent of the vote and large numbers of respondents yet undecided. But most surveys have shown that Mr. Schlossberg and Mr. Conway are better known than Mr. Lasher.
Mr. Bloomberg is one of the nation’s most prolific donors. He has spent billions of dollars in recent years on his own presidential campaign, supporting liberal policy initiatives and donating to other Democratic candidates for federal office.
Not all his efforts have been successful. Mr. Bloomberg was the largest single donor, contributing more than $13 million, to super PACs supporting former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in last year’s mayoral election. Despite that support, Mr. Cuomo lost both the Democratic primary and the general election to Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist.
But more than decade after leaving office, Mr. Bloomberg remains overwhelmingly popular in the district, which includes the Midtown headquarters of his business empire and his home on the Upper East Side.
He is also close to Mr. Schlossberg’s mother, Caroline Kennedy, once advocating for her to become a U.S. senator from New York.
The race has split other prominent Democrats. Mr. Nadler is supporting Mr. Lasher; his old crosstown rival, former Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, is backing Mr. Bores.
Representative Nancy Pelosi of California, the former House speaker, endorsed Mr. Schlossberg in February. Ms. Pelosi, who has been close to the Kennedy family for decades, also recently recorded an ad with Mr. Schlossberg that his campaign expects to release in the coming weeks, according to a person familiar with the plans.
Rival factions within the artificial intelligence industry have also chosen to make the race a proxy fight in their battle for supremacy. Together, they have poured millions of dollars into the race, most of it supporting or attacking Mr. Bores, a leading proponent of regulating the industry.
Nicholas Fandos is a Times reporter covering New York politics and government.
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