Wilson Leads Boylan in Chelsea City Council Democratic Primary
Incumbent Carl Wilson is leading Lindsey Boylan in the Democratic primary for the City Council seat covering the Chelsea/Hell’s Kitchen area but a final winner won’t be anointed until someone surpasses 50 percent of the vote in the ranked choice race. Wilson is the only candidate who actively campaigned.
Chelsea /
| 25 Jun 2026 | 02:44
Carl Wilson received 44% of total ranked-choice votes in the District 3 City Council Democratic primary election June 23, according to unofficial results released by NYC Board of Elections. (
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Joining Wilson on the ballot was a repeat of the candidates from the April 28 special election for the NYC District 3 Council seat. (
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In the primary election, incumbent Carl Wilson, who only took office after a special election in April, was leading in the Democratic primary on June 23 but had less than 50 percent of the vote. No winner will be declared until one of the four candidates amasses more than 50 percent of the vote. (
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Wilson received strong endorsements from NY-12’s now-Democratic nominee Micah Lasher and predecessor Erik Bottcher, who he used to work for as chief of staff. (
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Among the closest Democratic primaries in the city on June 23, Carl Wilson, the incumbent City Council member for the Chelsea/Hell’s Kitchen seat is ahead of Lindsey Boylan in a four-person race.
Manhattan has become the borough of special elections in 2026 and there was perhaps no odder race than in Council District 3 in Manhattan. Three of the candidates in the June primary did not actively campaign but could not get their names removed from the ballot.
Wilson faced opposition from the same three candidates he won against in an April special election when they all ran to replace the seat vacated by Erik Bottcher.
Bottcher ran and won his special election race for NYS Senate, taking the seat formerly held by Brad Hoylman-Sigal who was elected Manhattan borough president.
In the unofficial June 23 election results, Wilson—a Hell’s Kitchen resident who served as chief of staff to then-Council Member Bottcher—was in the lead with 7,722 votes which translated into 44.01% of the total vote. Boylan pulled in 33.09% of total votes; community activist Layla Law-Gisiko, pulled in 12.72% of and community board four chairperson Leslie Boghosian Murphy, won 9.12% of total votes, according to the Board of Elections.
Other than Wilson, who campaigned for re-election it appears that none of the other three candidates campaigned and had in fact declared that they would not run. But there names remained on the ballot.
“In New York State, the only way to get off the ballot is to die, get indicted or become a judge, and I didn’t intend to do any of them,” said Law-Gisiko, who was polling third in a race she had no intention of entering.
The appearance of the three non-candidates on the ballot came about because the filing deadline for the June primary was April 6, which occurred before the April 28 special election. Since all four candidates were in-it-to-win-it mode before the special election, they all automatically filed to run in the June 23 primary with the hope that they’d be the incumbent. When Wilson won and the other three lost, the losing candidates lost interest in a repeat race only two months later. But too late; they could not get off the ballot, even though they sat out the race.
Meanwhile, the board of elections continues to tally the votes. None of the candidates accrued over 50% for a majority vote in preliminary tallies released after the polls closed on June 23, meaning the Board of Elections will have to reshuffle ranked-choice votes until the 50% threshold is reached. The candidate in fourth with the least amount of votes is dropped and her second choice votes go to another candidate. If the leader is still short of 50 percent, the candidate in third is dropped and her second choice votes are tallied.
Wilson said he is excited, pending final tabulated results, to continue serving as a Council member.
“Tonight, I am honored and humbled once again by the trust that the people of District 3 have placed in me,” Wilson wrote in an Instagram post. “I am confident yet again that Ranked Choice Voting results will bring us over 50%.”
“This victory means we get to continue fighting for deeply affordable housing, safer and cleaner streets, fast and accessible transportation, and an inclusive city for all of us,” Wilson added.
At this point, it appears one of the candidates may give it a go in November. According to Ballotpedia, Boylan—an urban planner who had been the first woman to accuse Governor Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment when she was his advisor—will still be on the ballot for the November 3 general election under the Working Families Party.
But that is also subject to change since the Working Families Party in many races simply endorses the Democratic candidate. We reached out to Boylan and the Working Families party but had not heard back by presstime.
Wilson had been the choice by most establishment Dems. He was endorsed by his predecessor and former boss Bottcher, as well as City Council speaker Julie Menin.
Additionally, Wilson received an endorsement from Assemblyman Micah Lasher, who had in return received Wilson’s endorsement for the Democratic nomination for NY’s 12th Congressional seat. Lasher won his own Congressional primary in the crowded CD-12 race with 39% of votes over the 34% racked up by assembly member Alex Bores, Since that race involved a federal office rather than a local city office, it is not subject to any reshuffling from ranked choice voting.
It could be two weeks before the Board of Elections officially certifies a winner in the City Council District 3 race although it will release the next rank choice results on June 30.