Jerrold Nadler

Representative Jerrold Nadler was still wavering over whether to retire from a storied career in Congress last February when he attended the swearing-in ceremony for Micah Lasher, a new Manhattan assemblyman.

The program featured a parade of more-seasoned Nadler protégés, but Mr. Lasher’s remarks made an impression on the congressman’s wife, Joyce Nadler. They were full of outrage at President Trump, but also the kind of strategic legislative responses that have been Mr. Nadler’s hallmark.

“As we walked out,” he recalled in an interview, “my wife turned to me and said, ‘He’s your successor.’”

The possibility helped ease Mr. Nadler’s decision to announce his retirement last fall after three decades in Washington. Now, he is ready to publicly endorse Mr. Lasher in the race to fill his coveted, safely Democratic seat in the heart of Manhattan.

“He’s brilliant,” Mr. Nadler said. “He’s dedicated to civil liberties and civil rights, as I am, and he’s done a great job at every job he’s held.

“I think he’s the class of the field,” he added.

The endorsement, which will be rolled out in a video on Monday morning, could help distinguish Mr. Lasher from a crowded field. Other Democrats running in the June primary include Jack Schlossberg, a grandson of former President John F. Kennedy; Alex Bores a tech-savvy assemblyman from the East Side; and George T. Conway III, an anti-Trump cable news fixture who was once married to the president’s campaign manager.

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