Academy Award winner and actor Matt Damon has intervened on behalf of his old Harvard roomate in an attempt to help get him elected to the Bedford Town Court. Damon released a video on July 14, endorsing Clark Petschek for Bedford Town Justice.
“Hi this is Matt Damon. I have known Clark Petschek for well over 30 years, since we were undergraduates together at Harvard. We were roomates there, so I know Clark really well. He is one of the most exceptional people that I have met in my life. Clark was in the Army and found his way into the Special Forces, where he led a team hunting war criminals in Eastern Europe following the Bosnian war. This sense of justice in Clark is something that runs so deep that it was something to risk his life for. It makes sense that Clark wants to take some of this hard fought hard won wisdom from this incredible life that he has led and bring it to the bench and become a judge. This is something that I think he will do incredibly well. It gives me a great deal of pride to wholeheartedly endorse him,” said Damon, at https://www.facebook.com/clark4bedford/videos/827058461569952.
Damon’s appeal has brought interest from many in the media, including this reporter, who would not normally be covereing a local race for Town Justice. Damon and Paetschek were roomates at Harvard for their sophomore and junior years.
Petschek, who is running on the Republican and Bedford United lines, is facing Democrat Jodi Kimmel this November to replace Judge Erik Jacobsen, whose term is up at the end of this year. Petschek, who has lived in Bedford for 40 years and has practiced law for 20 years, said that Damon reached out once he announced his candidacy.
Most interesting in the Good Will Hunting writer and actors endorsement is the fact that Petschek is a republican and Damon usually endorsed democratic candidates and causes across the country. While acknowledging that the endorsement from an “A List” Hollywood actor is unusual in Westchester, Petschek is also correct in noting that Damon’s endorsement helps “voters to understand who I am professionally and personally.”
Petschek is running on a “Bedford United” Party line, in addition to the republican party line, as a way for disaffected republicans and “never Trumpers” to vote for him on another line.
Petschek is running against democrat Jodi Kimmel to replace Erik Jacobsen, who served as a Bedford Judge until he was arrested for DWI in 2019 and resisted arrest in Mt. Kisco, forcing police officers to have to use a taser to restrain him.
Kimmel touted the fact that she has been endorsed by many prominent democrats, including County Executive George Latimer, State Senator Shelly Mayer and Assemblyman Chris Burdick. “Endorsements come in many different varieties and some are more difficult to get than others. And for what it’s worth, my college roommate thinks I’d make for a great Town Justice,” noted Kimmel, who has also practiced law for more than 20 years and has lived in Bedford since 2008. She practices law with her husband in their law practice, and has handled the Damon endorsement with some humor.
Another judicial race of note in Westchester is for State Supreme Court in the 9th Judicial District which includes Westchester and five other counties. More on those races in the weeks to come.
