Parkland survivor Cameron Kasky launches NY-12 congressional campaign

John F. Kennedy’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, captured a lot of national attention when he launched a congressional campaign to replace retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., but the content creator isn’t the only young progressive candidate vying to represent the Big Apple in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Democratic activist Cameron Caskey, 25, launched a campaign Tuesday for New York’s 12th Congressional District, joining an already crowded field of Democratic primary contenders.

Caskey jumps into the race at a time when progressives across the United States, especially in New York City, are seeking to take away Democratic success in 2025 races, including winning governorships in New Jersey and Virginia and putting 34-year-old socialist Zahran Mamdani at the helm of America’s largest city.

“New Yorkers are always on the go, reaching new heights, and hurtling toward the future, but today’s leaders can’t keep up,” Caskey said in his ad video, as he walked through crowded New York City between jump pieces of the Gen Z activist riding public transportation.

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In tone and style the video is reminiscent of Mamdani’s upbeat and cinematic videos, with Caskey’s political campaign debut written over a jazzy band.

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“I’m Cameron Caskey, and I’m running for congress because it seems our party has no future, so we need to invest in a new generation of leaders to fight the fight.

Caskey said he “never dreamed” of entering politics, but after surviving a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018, and later leading the March for Our Lives, a student-led organization that supports gun control legislation, he said he learned “the hard way” what happened because of “the American system,” which he now seeks to dismantle.

His main campaign promises are Medicare for All, calling for an end to “funding of genocide” and abolishing US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Both Schlossberg and Kasky are seeking to remove Representative Jerry Nadler, Democrat of New York, who is 78 years old and will retire at the end of next year after decades of working in Congress. Nadler currently represents the West Side of Manhattan, from Chelsea and Greenwich Village, through Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen, all the way to the Upper West Side.

Jack Schlossberg, grandson of President John Kennedy, takes a photo as US President Joe Biden departs for Michigan from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, on September 6, 2024. (Annabelle Gordon/Reuters)

Caskey’s announcement came on the heels of New York City Councilman Chi Oseh launching a primary challenge against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., in an adjacent congressional district amid ongoing debate over the party’s future.

But even Mayor-elect Mamdani rejected Osiah’s initial salvo against Jeffries, arguing that this was not the “right time” to challenge the House’s top Democrat.

As for Schlossberg, he is practically a political king. But to online voters in New York City, he is better known as the star of hundreds of satirical, often silly, viral videos, amassing nearly 850,000 followers on TikTok and nearly 770,000 followers on Instagram.

Despite a following and Kennedy connections, Schlossberg has a weak resume. He most recently served as A Political reporter For Vogue during the 2024 presidential election.

Caskey and Schlossberg aren’t the only candidates in the already crowded Democratic primary.

Nonprofit leader and activist Liam Elkind is also running, and Elkind’s launch video follows a similar walk-and-talk style as his fellow young progressive opponents.

US Senator Jerry Nadler (D-NY) attends the 2023 New York City Pride Parade on June 25, 2023, in New York City. (Roy Rocklin/Getty Images)

Among the 26-year-old’s most important campaign promises is to “actually fight Trump,” in addition to improving the Democratic Party, ending corruption, affordability, and civil rights.

Also participating in the campaign in the crowded square are Assembly members Micah Lasher and Alex Burris, as well as Councilman Eric Butcher.

According to Lasher, 43, he is running “to revitalize the Democratic Party, fight Trump’s agenda, and achieve results that improve the lives of New Yorkers.”

Meanwhile, Boris, who is in his mid-30s, said he is “running for Congress because the big systems have stopped working for the little ones — but together, we can fix them.”

Butcher, 46, seeks to “keep the dream of New York City alive and take back our country.”

Civil rights attorney Laura Dunn, former journalist and political commentator Jamey Floyd, Merrill Lynch, Mercury Capital Advisors Alan Pardee, and gay rights activist Matthew Shurka are all vying for the coveted Democratic nomination.

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Dunn, 40, said she is “fearlessly running for the people,” while Floyd, 61, did not vote for Mamdani last November and ran as a moderate in the primary.

Pardee, 58, said he is running to create “policies that make our city livable for all families,” and Shurka, 37, said he is campaigning to “fight corruption, confront Donald Trump’s attacks on this city, and fight for the people who make New York home.”