Micah Lasher, a Democratic state assemblymember who is running for an open House seat in Manhattan, has enlisted a top progressive consulting firm with ties to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani to cut ads for his campaign, Jewish Insider has learned.

Fight Agency, a media firm co-founded by Morris Katz, who rose to prominence as an advisor for Mamdani’s insurgent mayoral campaign, is working with Lasher as he seeks to succeed retiring Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) in a crowded primary in New York’s 12th Congressional District, which has the largest Jewish electorate in the country. 

“Team Lasher is thrilled to welcome Fight Agency to our team that includes powerhouses Mark Guma and Haley Scott,” Grace Peacore, a Lasher spokesperson, told JI on Wednesday, referring to other consultants advising the campaign. “We can’t wait for you to see what we’ve been cooking up. Stay tuned!”

Katz shot a new ad for Lasher this week at a bagel shop on the Upper West Side with Nadler and New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, both of whom have backed his campaign, according to Peacore.  

The relationship represents something of an unlikely pairing for both parties. Fight Agency prides itself on elevating anti-establishment candidates with left-wing worldviews — among its most high-profile clients this election cycle are Graham Platner, an oyster farmer who is now the presumptive Democratic nominee in Maine’s Senate race, and Abdul El-Sayed, who is running in Michigan’s crowded Senate primary. Both candidates have positioned themselves as staunch critics of Israel.  

Katz, who is Jewish, is also an outspoken critic of Israel who has sought to push the party leftward on Middle East policy, while Lasher has called himself a “proud Zionist Jew” and opposed legislative efforts to block U.S. weapons sales to Israel. He is known as a policy wonk with close connections to the Democratic establishment in New York — thanks to his past roles working for Hochul and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, among others.

Katz had reportedly been working to help consolidate progressive backing for Lasher, though one of his top rivals in the June primary, Assemblymember Alex Bores, has drawn endorsements from a range of left-wing groups in recent days.    

Lasher, whose campaign had not yet been up on the airwaves, is also facing Jack Schlossberg, a Kennedy scion and social media influencer, and George Conway, a prominent critic of President Donald Trump, among other lesser-known candidates. 

One Jewish leader, speaking anonymously to discuss the race, called Lasher’s decision to hire Katz a smart move, even if he disagreed with his stances on Israel. “I would also use him!” he told JI on Wednesday.