Trump critic George Conway launches bid for Congress in Manhattan as a Democrat

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: George Conway, the conservative lawyer who became one of Donald Trump’s fiercest critics, has officially filed paperwork to run for Congress as a Democrat, aiming to fill the Manhattan seat left open by retiring Rep Jerry Nadler.

The co-founder of 'The Lincoln Project' filed with the Federal Election Commission on Monday, December 22, setting up a high-profile clash in New York's 12th Congressional District.

Conway, 62, will face a colorful roster of contenders, including JFK’s grandson Jack Schlossberg and 'March for Our Lives' co-founder Cameron Kasky.

'Lawyering' against Trump from the House 

Conway, a Yale Law graduate who spent decades in conservative legal circles, framed his party switch and candidacy as a necessary evolution to combat Trump’s second term.

"This is the time for a lawyer who has never been in politics to go into politics," Conway told the New York Times. "This is lawyering now."

He plans to pitch himself as a legal bulldog capable of working alongside Democrats like Jamie Raskin and Dan Goldman to challenge the administration's overreach.

A bitter split from Trump and Kellyanne 

Conway’s journey from Republican insider to Democratic candidate is inextricable from his tumultuous marriage to Kellyanne Conway, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and senior counselor.

The couple divorced in 2023 after years of public sparring, with George attacking the president on social media while Kellyanne defended him on cable news.

In her memoir, Kellyanne described him as a former "MAGA-cap-wearing" supporter who "abandoned" her for Twitter.

Conway was once considered for solicitor general in the first Trump administration but withdrew, later calling the administration a "sh**show in a dumpster fire."

A crowded primary field awaits 

Conway enters a race already teeming with ambition.

The contest to succeed Nadler, the dean of the New York delegation, features Jack Schlossberg, 32, who has built a massive social media following, and Micah Lasher, a state assemblyman and Nadler confidant.

Other candidates include Councilmember Erik Bottcher and gun safety activist Cameron Kasky, guaranteeing a generational and ideological battle for the deep-blue district.