City Council special election petitioning kicks off – a little too early

A special election to fill City Council Member Erik Bottcher’s seat following his election to the state Senate this week is already off to the races. Even though the special election hasn’t officially been called yet.

According to photos and video obtained by City & State, candidate Layla Law-Gisiko was collecting petition signatures Thursday morning in apparent violation of petitioning rules –  because Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s office has not yet issued a valid proclamation for the Manhattan special election. The mayor’s office did try to issue the proclamation for the nonpartisan special election on Thursday, a spokesperson for the New York City Board of Elections told City & State, but it was “received in error” because it included incorrect dates for the length of the term. (It incorrectly said the term was through 2029, but it is in fact through the end of 2026, according to the BOE.)

Mamdani spokesperson Dora Pekec confirmed that City Hall issued the proclamation but with the “2029” typo. She said they will re-issue it first thing Friday. 

Because the mayor’s office did issue a proclamation Thursday – though it was determined to be invalid – Law-Gisiko’s campaign was under the impression they were allowed to start collecting signatures. “Pursuant to the City Charter, our campaign collected petition signatures today, the day the Mayor issued the proclamation calling a special election,” she said in an emailed statement. “Any error in the transmitted proclamation is an administrative matter for the Board of Elections. Under the Charter, signatures collected today are valid.”

Other candidates in the race include Carl Wilson, Bottcher’s chief of staff; Lindsey Boylan, a former congressional candidate and ex-aide to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo; and Community Board 4 Chair Leslie Boghosian Murphy.

The City Charter states that signatures taken earlier than the date the mayor proclaims a special election date cannot be counted. Though the charter doesn’t specify what time petitioning must start – just the same day as the special election date is proclaimed – one election lawyer said they wouldn’t advise clients to try threading that as a loophole. “I understand there’s some ambiguity here, but I would never tell a client to start petitioning before the proclamation was issued,” said election lawyer Sarah Steiner, who does not have a client in the race.

Regardless, the proclamation was not received as of Thursday evening. The BOE said they expect it to come through on Friday.