Lindsey Boylan, whom New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed and who has called the Israeli prime minister a “war criminal and a danger to Israel” and accused the Jewish state of “genocide,” conceded the special election in the New York City Council’s third district on Tuesday night.
The New York Times reported that Boylan, a Democratic Socialist, called Carl Wilson, a former chief-of-staff to Erik Bottcher, who resigned the council seat to join the state Senate, to concede the race. With 99% of votes counted, Wilson appeared to have trounced Boylan 43% to 26% in the district, which covers the west side of Manhattan from midtown’s Hells Kitchen to the West Village.
The race has not been called officially, since no candidate received at least 50% of the vote, but is expected to be formally decided next week.
Bottcher, City Council speaker Julie Menin, city comptroller Mark Levine and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) were among those to endorse Wilson. The race “was widely viewed as a proxy conflict between the mayor and the council speaker, Julie Menin, a moderate Democrat,” the Times reported.
Some news outlets have reported that Wilson’s win could mean that the council would overturn the mayor’s recent veto of a bill that would call on the New York City Police Department to make a plan for a “buffer zone” free of protest obstruction around educational institutions. Menin, who is Jewish, and major Jewish organizations decried Mamdani’s veto, and many said that it would threaten the safety of Jewish New Yorkers.
Wilson has pledged that he would vote to overturn the veto, but the Times reported on Tuesday that “a spokesman for his campaign said he had changed his position and instead wanted to see the bill amended to address the concerns of free speech advocates.” (JNS sought comment from Wilson.)
A source in Menin’s office told JNS that the speaker “continues to discuss next steps with members” of the city council.
The text of the bill that Mamdani stopped is virtually the same as that of a bill that passed the council with a veto-proof majority and which calls on the NYPD to plan for buffer zones around houses of worship. The mayor said that the text of the two differed significantly and that the one he vetoed would have threatened free speech, even though the bill says that it would do nothing to block protests—just protesters who are obstructing entry to buildings.
The vetoed educational institutions bill, Int. 175-B, passed the City Council 30 to 19, too narrowly to be veto-proof. To overturn Mamdani’s veto, the council would need a two-thirds majority of its 51 members.
“Tonight, we had a resounding victory by electing Carl Wilson as our next City Council member,” Menin stated. “Carl has been a friend and colleague for many years, and I couldn’t have been more proud to endorse him in this election.”
Mark Treyger, CEO of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, wrote that he “cannot overstate enough what a huge win this is for Julie Menin.”
Inna Vernikov, minority whip of the City Council and co-chair of its bipartisan task force on Jew-hatred, stated that “tonight was a first test of Mamdani’s ability to sway a New York City election.”
“Lindsey Boylan, who clearly lacks basic reading comprehension skills and/or lied to voters about a bill we passed, was endorsed by Zohran Mamdani,” she stated. “Carl Wilson, was Erik Bottcher’s chief-of-staff, was endorsed by Speaker Menin and is a more moderate voice.”
“This is a glorious beat down on Mamdani and his radical cronies,” she added.
“Big congrats to Carl Wilson for a dominant and well-deserved win tonight,” stated Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-N.Y.). “Carl has been in the arena for many years and has the knowledge and experience to be a terrific representative for his district. I look forward to working together for our shared constituents.”
The vote is being seen by many in the political class as a referendum on the limitation of Mamdani’s clout. The mayor has endorsed two other primary candidates: Brad Lander, the former city comptroller who is running for Congress in the 10th District, and Claire Valdez, a Democratic Socialist state representative who is running for Congress in the 7th District.
Lander, who has been very critical of the Israeli government and who is running to unseat Goldman, reportedly broke with the Democratic Socialists of America after Oct. 7.
Wilson, who will finish Bottcher’s term, is on the June 23 Democratic primary ballot, as is Boylan. Wilson is expected to win that primary as well. The winner of the latter election will sit on the council from 2027 until 2029.
Boylan was a former aide to Andrew Cuomo when he was the New York governor and the first to accuse him of sexual harassment. Cuomo lost to Mamdani in last year’s mayor election.
Wilson will be the fifth openly gay person to represent the City Council district, which includes Stonewall Inn, regarded as the birthplace of the modern gay rights movement.
Brad Hargreaves, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, stated that “Boylan had no local presence, and it’s no surprise she lost.”
The “only question is why Mamdani tried to intervene at a late hour,” he stated. “But Carl Wilson’s trouncing of Layla Law-Gisiko is the real story here, a sharp repudiation of NIMBY,” not in my backyard, “politics in one of the wealthiest districts in the country.”
Law-Gisiko received about 20% of the vote, and Leslie Boghosian Murphy secured about 11%.
“Lib or progressive, we’re much better for tonight’s outcome,” Hargreaves said.
