George Conway announced Tuesday that he was married to a former presidential adviser who became a prominent anti-Trump figure. he is running is running for a U.S. House seat in New York City, testing whether he can convert a strong social media following into votes in a crowded Democratic primary.
Conway worked as an attorney in New York City for many years but most recently lived in Bethesda, Maryland. He said he was inspired to run for Congress after talking to a friend about her dissatisfaction with some Democrats. vote Ending last year’s government shutdown.
Conway didn’t want to challenge Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, whom he said he loved, so friends suggested he instead consider a seat in Manhattan that would soon become vacant when Rep. Jerry Nadler retired.
Conway said he looked it up on Wikipedia and realized it was his previous trail.
“It’s like, well, this is an opening. It’s not crazy. I should think about it,” he said in an interview.
He moved back to Manhattan a few weeks ago, he said.
Conway joins a host of Democrats hoping to take Nadler’s seat. Candidates include Nadler protégé and state representative Micah Lasher, school shooting survivor and advocate Cameron Kasky; Jack SchlossbergGrandson of John F. Kennedy.
In a campaign launch video, Conway, 62, positioned himself as a longtime Trump opponent whose extensive experience as a lawyer would allow him to continue his years-long battle with the president in Congress.
“This is not an ordinary moment. Nor will I be an ordinary member of Congress,” he said.
Conway, former Republican who helped found anti-Trump group Lincoln Projectsaid he doesn’t want to be a career politician but feels “this is a moment where we need someone who can fight Trump the way Trump needs to be fought.”
He supported Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and is married to Trump Kellyanne Conwayis a pollster and strategist who served as a senior presidential adviser in Trump’s first White House and was one of his fiercest defenders.
As Trump’s first term continued, George Conway began to criticize Trump with an aggressiveness that matched his then-wife’s enthusiastic support of the president, drawing particular attention to the different political stances of their relationship.
At one point, Trump fired back, calling George Conway “a heartless loser and a husband from hell!”
The Conways announced their divorce in 2023, writing in a statement that their marriage had experienced “many happy years.”
The district Conway hopes to represent is considered solidly Democratic and consists of midtown Manhattan and the trendy Upper East and Upper West Sides.
Nadler, 78, said last year he would not run for re-election and New York’s congressional delegation has long called for generational change in Congress. His planned withdrawal has led to a surge of Democratic candidates to take his seat.