Gay candidate beats Mamdani’s choice in race to represent Stonewall district in NYC Council

Carl Wilson, the former chief of staff for New York Sen. Erik Bottcher, has declared victory over a New York City Council seat in a district seen as the birthplace of the gay rights movement, local news outlets have reported.

Wilson will serve as the fifth consecutive gay representative for Manhattan’s 3rd District in the New York City Council. The district, which includes Stonewall Inn, as well as the neighborhoods of Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, the West Village, and Greenwich Village, has been represented by LGBTQ+ council members since 1992.

“Winning an election is not the finish line,” Wilson said at a campaign party in Hell’s Kitchen on Tuesday night, local news website Gothamist reported. “Now the real work begins.”

Wilson’s victory delivers a win for the city’s moderate Democrats, including Council Speaker Julie Menin, an early endorser of his campaign. Although Wilson has said he would join the council’s progressive caucus, the race became a proxy battle between the Democratic Party’s moderate and progressive flanks after Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed one of Wilson’s opponents, democratic socialist Lindsey Boylan.

Roughly 43 percent of ballots counted election night ranked Wilson first, compared to 26 percent for Boylan, 20 percent for Layla Law-Gisiko and 11 percent for Leslie Boghosian Murphy, according to Gothamist’s reporting on the unofficial election results. Boylan and Mamdani both reportedly confirmed that Wilson won the seat Tuesday night.

The race also brought debate over whether a district of historic importance to the LGBTQ+ community should be represented by an LGBTQ+ council member. Among the four candidates, Wilson was the only out LGBTQ+ candidate.

On Election Day, voters who spoke with The Advocate generally agreed they prioritized policy items over the identity any candidate held.

Wilson had received endorsements from several labor unions, elected officials and local LGBTQ+ groups. His campaign priorities included building new affordable housing, expanding crisis intervention services and bolstering public transit, according to his campaign website.

Wilson has also been a staunch advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. At a celebration for a pro-trans rights political action committee in February, Wilson told The Advocate that protecting trans rights would be particularly important to him in office, in light of attacks on trans rights under President Donald Trump.

“We are living in a moment right now when our trans siblings, our trans brothers and sisters, are under unprecedented threat from the fascist regime in Washington,” Wilson said. “It’s more important now than ever for allies and folks that care deeply about rights, justice, and equality, to stand up.”

Wilson said his work helping his predecessor pass pro-LGBTQ+ policies in the city council would translate well to the office.

“It’s a priority that I want to be front and center in my work,” Wilson said. “There’s more work to do, and now more than ever people have to be speaking up and standing up for what’s right.”

This article was written as part of the Future of Queer Media fellowship program at The Advocate, which is underwritten by a generous gift from Morrison Media Group. The program helps support the next generation of LGBTQ+ journalists.