Jack Schlossberg Leads in New Poll as ‘Love Story’ Stokes Camelot Fever

Political influencer Jack Schlossberg may have a real shot at becoming the next Kennedy elected to public office, as a new poll puts him ahead of the pack in the crowded Democratic primary to fill Representative Jerry Nadler’s congressional seat. An internal poll from Assemblymember Alex Bores, who is also vying for New York’s 12th Congressional District, shows Mr. Schlossberg leading with 22 percent of the vote, edging out Mr. Bores, a close second at 19 percent. Assemblymember Micah Lasher, a Nadler protégé who received the outgoing representative’s endorsement, trails at 14 percent. The largest share of respondents — 28 percent — remain undecided.The poll, conducted in mid-March, suggests Mr. Schlossberg’s early lead continues to hold. Two prior polls, from February and early March, put him at 23 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Voters will take to the polls for the primary in June. The primary has become a race to watch, drawing high-profile candidates and major donors. Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg publicly endorsed Mr. Lasher in March and is reportedly prepared to spend millions to boost his campaign.Mr. Schlossberg, the 33-year-old grandson of President Kennedy, has built a following as a social media personality, amassing millions of followers across his main platforms. His content — much of which he has scrubbed since launching his campaign — has ranged from from shirtless selfies to ballet videos to inflammatory political commentary. Some of his more controversial posts, particularly those targeting Vice President Vance and his wife, Usha Vance, are now being recirculated.Despite attending elite schools — the Collegiate prep school in Manhattan, then Yale, and Harvard Law and Business Schools — Mr. Schlossberg’s resume is fairly thin. He completed several Hill internships while in school and later worked as a political correspondent for Vogue during the 2024 election.The race marks Mr. Schlossberg’s first political campaign and he has cast himself as an “outsider” and “anti-establishment candidate.” Mr. Schlossberg has vowed to reject money from corporate or super PACs and has called out his opponents for receiving money from “massive billionaires or massive AI companies.” In a recent fundraising text, he adopted the nickname “NO PAC JACK.”However, Mr. Schlossberg has accepted money from political PACs, including $5,000 from the leadership PAC of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a longtime friend of the Kennedy family. Ms. Pelosi endorsed Mr. Schlossberg in February, calling him “the best of his generation: authentic, smart, creative and driven.” She has also reportedly filmed a campaign advertisement with him set for release soon, according to New York Magazine.For all his outsider positioning, Mr. Schlossberg’s campaign materials leave little doubt about the source of his political capital, with frequent invocations of the Kennedy family legacy.His official campaign site lists his full name — John Bouvier Kennedy Schlossberg — and credits his civic commitment to “the example set by his family and by the city that shaped him.” In campaign photos, Mr. Schlossberg leans into his resemblance to his late uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr., posing with a bicycle — Kennedy’s favored mode of transportation — and copying his trademark backwards cap, bike lock, and rolled-up pants leg.The campaign arrives amid renewed public fascination with the Camelot legacy, stoked in part by a popular television series about John Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. The show, “Love Story,” traces the couple through their tumultuous relationship and their deaths in a 1999 plane crash. Mr. Schlossberg has strongly condemned the series, dismissing its portrayal of his family as “capital F for fiction.”Still, the show appears to be working in his favor, particularly with younger voters. At Mr. Schlossberg’s “pizza party” campaign events, attendees have reportedly shown up dressed as Bessette — donning her signature black turtleneck and tortoiseshell headband — or cited the series as what drew them to his campaign.“The show is doing more for voters’ awareness of Jack Schlossberg than anything Jack Schlossberg has done,” a communications aide on the Bores campaign, Alyssa Cass, told City & State New York. “It’s a beautiful tribute to his family. It’s also a flashing neon sign that Jack Schlossberg’s most compelling credential is his family tree.”

Jack Schlossberg Leads in New Poll as ‘Love Story’ Stokes Camelot Fever

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