Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council candidate Lindsey Boylan criticized a late wave of outside spending Tuesday as voters cast ballots in a closely watched special election on Manhattan’s west side, intensifying a race that has split the city’s Democratic establishment.
The criticism came after New York Focus reported that a super PAC funded in part by donors who previously supported former Gov. Andrew Cuomo had poured six figures into the race. Campaign finance filings reviewed by amNewYork show Next NYC PAC transferred $175,000 to Westside Progress, Inc., which reported spending $147,532 supporting Boylan’s chief rival, Carl Wilson.
The spending has intensified the contest for the District 3 seat — covering Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen and the West Village — and turned it into a proxy battle between rival Democratic coalitions. Other candidates in the field include Leslie Boghosian Murphy and Layla Law-Gisiko.
Speaking in Chelsea on Election Day alongside Boylan and her canvassers, Mamdani framed the race as a choice about who will represent a district facing rising housing pressures.
“This is a district where so many of its residents are rent burdened,” Mamdani said. “We want this to be a district where people can not only grow old, but more people can come and live here.”
Asked about the outside spending, Mamdani called it “the last vestiges of a political operation that is looking to try and suppress any voice of courage that is there within our politics.”
Boylan, who was the first former Cuomo aide to publicly accuse him of sexual harassment, echoed that criticism.
“I think it’s really sad and cynical that people try to buy elections and do it in such a corrupt way and overturn the will of voters,” she said. “I’m hopeful that people see through this. Abusers shouldn’t win, and this is just another form of abuse.”
Cuomo has long denied Boylan’s allegations.
Marc Landis, treasurer of Westside Progress, rejected the framing of the PAC as Cuomo-aligned and defended the group’s involvement in the race.
“Westside Progress has one mission: electing strong, progressive Democrats, like Carl Wilson, who share our values and are focused on delivering results for our community,” Landis said in a statement.
Landis is also one of eight commissioners on the city Board of Elections. A BOE spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about whether Landis’ role as treasurer of a super PAC spending in a city election presented a conflict or whether he had recused himself from any matters related to the District 3 race.
Wilson’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment on Westside Progress at the time of publication.
The outside spending fight comes at the end of a race that had already been shaping up as a contest between two Democratic lanes. Boylan has drawn support from Mamdani allies, the Working Families Party and left-leaning elected officials, while Wilson has been backed by Council Speaker Julie Menin, Rep. Jerry Nadler, Comptroller Mark Levine, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, former Council speakers Corey Johnson and Christine Quinn, and several labor groups.
The outcome could also have immediate consequences at City Hall. Wilson has said he would support overriding Mamdani’s veto of a Council bill requiring the NYPD to establish protest buffer zones at educational facilities, while Boylan has said she would oppose an override. The bill has become a flashpoint between free-speech advocates and supporters who say it is needed to protect students from harassment near schools and campuses.
The race has also exposed progressive fractures: retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez endorsed Wilson in the final week after Mamdani backed Boylan – the latest in a proxy war between the pair.
Wilson, a longtime West Side organizer and former chief of staff to Erik Bottcher, has campaigned on affordability, transit, the arts, quality-of-life issues and LGBTQ representation. He has argued the district, home to Stonewall, should continue its decades-long history of LGBTQ representation.
Boylan said Tuesday she understands those concerns but pointed to her record as an ally, especially to trans New Yorkers.
“I don’t want to dismiss anyone’s concerns or feelings about it,” she said. “I keep showing up every day. I’ve been showing up for years on LGBTQIA-plus issues, for our trans community in particular, that is under attack, and I will continue to do so.”
Asked her first priority if elected, housing remained central to her closing pitch.
“Almost half our people in this district are severely rent burdened, so we have to focus on housing,” Boylan said, citing the need for new housing, tenant protections and improvements to voucher programs.
Boylan was the first former Cuomo aide to publicly accuse him of sexual harassment. After she came forward, Cuomo aides leaked personnel records showing workplace complaints had been filed against her during her time at Empire State Development, according to City & State. Asked about those complaints, Boylan told the outlet, “If someone had a bad experience with me, I apologize. That was a very difficult period of my life.”
Wilson entered Election Day with a financial edge and additional outside support, including spending from Carpenters for Progress and United for NYC’s Future, committees affiliated with the carpenters and teachers unions.
The special election is being decided under ranked-choice voting. Boylan voted Tuesday at Bayard Rustin High School, ranking Leslie Boghosian Murphy second.
Wilson, who started his morning campaigning with Council Member Justin Sanchez in Hell’s Kitchen, later voted nearby at P.S. 111 with his partner, James Hobbie, and his parents; his campaign said he also ranked Murphy second.
The Board of Elections said 11,129 voters had checked in by 6 p.m., including those who had cast early votes. Polls close at 9 p.m.
