New York City Council (2010–2019) Williams was elected after defeating incumbent Councilmember Kendall Stewart in the September 2009 Democratic primary by a margin of 12 points. Williams won the general election with an endorsement from the
Working Families Party. He was easily reelected in 2013. In June 2013, the New York City Council passed Williams's Community Safety Act, which established an Inspector General to oversee the
New York Police Department and created an enforceable ban against bias-based profiling. The act was passed over then-Mayor
Michael Bloomberg's veto. Williams has been an outspoken opponent of the NYPD's approach to
stop-and-frisk in New York City. In July 2013, Williams introduced "house party" legislation requiring parties with 40 or more people in attendance to register with the police. He also wants event organizers who advertise on social media and those charging admission to pay fines. On June 29, 2015, Mayor
Bill de Blasio signed Williams's legislation, the Fair Chance Act, commonly known as
Ban the Box. The law prohibits public and private employers from inquiring about an applicant's criminal history until a conditional offer of employment is made. On August 13, 2015, the
New York City Council passed Intro. 700, Williams's legislation, which, along with bills sponsored by Council Speaker
Melissa Mark Viverito and Council Member
Dan Garodnick, established regulations for "tenant relocation specialists", people landlords employ to buy out tenants. The mayor signed the legislation into law on September 9, 2015. Williams has cited his religious beliefs as an influence on his views on issues such as gay marriage and abortion. He expressed opposition to gay marriage and abortion as recently as 2017, but has since altered his position on these issues. As of 2019, Williams had reportedly received a 100% rating from the
Planned Parenthood of New York City Action Fund. Williams resigned from office on March 19, 2019 to become New York City Public Advocate. He declined to back his former staffer,
Farah Louis, to succeed him on the city council, instead endorsing
Monique Chandler-Waterman, who lost to Louis in the May special election.
2018 lieutenant gubernatorial campaign In
2018, Williams challenged incumbent
lieutenant governor Kathy Hochul in the
Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, running on a platform of anti-corruption, affordable housing, and criminal justice reform. Williams and
Cynthia Nixon, who challenged incumbent
Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, endorsed each other. Williams lost the primary by less than seven points.
New York City Public Advocate (2019–present) Elections Williams ran in the 2019 special election for
New York City Public Advocate to fill the vacancy created by
Letitia James, who became New York
state attorney general, until at least December 31, 2019. The
New York City chapter of
Democratic Socialists of America endorsed him in 2018, but in 2019 did not endorse anyone for public advocate. The
New York Daily News broke the story of his 2009 arrest in a domestic dispute, publishing records that had been sealed, which were used by rival candidates. In a crowded field with 18 other candidates, including former council speaker
Melissa Mark-Viverito and state assemblyman
Michael Blake, Williams won, with 33% of the vote to Mark-Viverito's 11% and Blake's 8%.
Republican Eric Ulrich received 19%. In his post-election remarks Williams said that he would work with Mayor de Blasio. He was certified and sworn into office on March 19, 2019. However, on April 2, 2025,
Southern District of New York Judge
Dale Ho granted the government's motion to dismiss the case in its entirely, and did so
with prejudice (which the government had not sought) such that the case can never be brought again against Mayor Adams. Adams did not resign prior to the end of his term. In 2024, Williams said he was against a proposed zoning change that would have eliminated parking mandates for new housing units.
2022 gubernatorial campaign On September 28, 2021, Williams announced the formation of an exploratory committee to seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2022. On November 16, 2021, Williams formally announced his bid for governor. His campaign "failed to gain much momentum" in advance of the primary, lagging far behind Governor Kathy Hochul in fundraising. Though Williams was "careful not to blame his campaign woes on it," he admitted that his wife's recent cancer diagnosis and the premature birth of his daughter three months prior had "curtailed his campaigning." While Williams initially received the support of the Working Families Party, the party dropped him from the ballot and endorsed Hochul following the June primary.
Activism On September 5, 2011, during the
West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn, Williams and Kirsten John Foy, director of community relations for then-
New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, were arrested and handcuffed for being disorderly along with a crowd. Williams was a supporter of the
Occupy Wall Street movement, and in September 2012 was assaulted by a member of the
NYPD at an Occupy Wall Street event. Williams was also arrested in 2018 for protesting the detention of immigrant-rights activist
Ravi Ragbir after Ragbir was detained during one of his regular check-ins with
ICE. ==Personal life==