Manual Williams

Williams was born in Manhattan, according to Ballotpedia, and his campaign website says he was born in Harlem and is a lifelong Harlem resident.[3][5] He says he has served in the U.S. Army since 1985 as an E5 non-commissioned officer in communications and digital graphics, according to his campaign, though Ballotpedia states he began Army service in 2020.[3][5] He attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice and, according to his campaign, has training in paralegal studies and federal court filings, telecommunications through the Army and Verizon, graphic design and computer networking.[5] He has worked as a Verizon communications technician, a cable industry contractor and a paralegal for Harlem law firms, and describes himself as a small-business owner with retail shops in New Jersey and Harlem.[5]

In a 2021 Ballotpedia survey, Williams described himself as a former Verizon (NYNEX and NJ Bell) technician and a paralegal, a former storefront business owner in Harlem, and an executive member of the Black Lives Matter Party.[3] He ran for New York City Council District 7 in 2021 on the Black Lives Matter Party line, receiving 7.2% of the vote in the general election won by Shaun Abreu.[3] According to his campaign website, he is a former Democrat who left the party and now runs as a Republican.[5] Running as a Republican, he sought the Council seat again in 2025 and received 8.9% of the vote against incumbent Shaun Abreu; the 2026 Republican primary for NY-13 was canceled, making him the party's nominee.[2][3] During the 2026 campaign, he ran on his own platform of what he called Universal Capitalism and public safety funding.[2][3][4][5] He received 11.4% of the vote to Darializa Avila Chevalier's 87.5%, according to unofficial results reported by NBC News.[1]