JFK’s Grandson Jack Schlossberg Announces Run for Congress

Jack Schlossberg is running for the seat currently held by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) in New York’s 12th Congressional District.

Jack Schlossberg arrives at the JFK Library in Boston on May 4, 2025. Robert F. Bukaty/AP Photo

Jack Schlossberg, the grandson of the late former President John F. Kennedy, said on Nov. 11 that he intends to run for the U.S. Congress to represent New York City.

Schlossberg—son of JFK’s daughter, Caroline Kennedy, and designer-artist Edwin Schlossberg—announced his candidacy in a social media video, saying that he hopes to represent the district where he was born and raised.

The 32-year-old is running for the seat currently held by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) in New York’s 12th Congressional District.

“This district should have a representative who can harness the creativity, energy, and drive of this district and translate that into political power in Washington,” he said in the campaign video.

Schlossberg warned that the United States is at “a turning point” and facing “a crisis at every level,” citing the rising cost of living and government cuts to social programs for health care and education.

“It’s a constitutional crisis with one dangerous man in control of all three branches of government. He’s stripping citizens of their civil rights and silencing his critics,” Schlossberg said.

“We deserve better, and we can do better, and it starts with the Democratic Party winning back control of the House of Representatives.”

The only grandson of JFK, who was assassinated in 1963, Schlossberg grabbed a moment in the Democratic Party spotlight on the second night of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where he gave an in-person speech endorsing then-Vice President Kamala Harris in her bid for president.

Schlossberg is also a cousin once removed of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom he has previously criticized. When Kennedy suspended his presidential campaign in August 2024, Schlossberg said he wasn’t surprised and expressed support for Harris.

Nadler announced in September that he would not seek reelection next year and said he believed a younger individual “can maybe do better” for the Democratic Party.

In an interview with The New York Times, Nadler said he realized the need for a generational change in the party after watching what happened to former President Joe Biden, whose reelection campaign was cut short last year after his debate performance against then-presidential candidate and former President Donald Trump prompted calls for Biden to withdraw.

Nadler, 78, did not specify who he thinks should succeed him, although he acknowledged that many of his allies would likely enter the race.

Liam Elkind, co-founder of nonprofit food delivery service Invisible Hands, which launched during the COVID-19 pandemic, has also announced his bid for Nadler’s seat.

Reuters contributed to this report.