Westchester Democrats are already casting their ballots for their democratic primaries, with the last day to vote on June 22. Here are the election contests on the ballot, but first a reminder to our readers that you must be a registred democrat to vote in the democratic primary.
County Clerk:
There is one election on the ballot for all Westchester Democrats, and that is the race for County Clerk. The incumbent, Westchester County Clerk Tim Idoni, is being challenged by Yonkers City Councilmember Shanae Williams.
Idoni has served as County Clerk for the past 12 years, during which time he has streamlined the office, cuts costs while providing the same services to the public. Williams is vowing to do more with the County Clerks office if elected, by conducting more outreach and “to make sure that affluent communities and poor, marginalized communities in Westchester have a voice – that’s why I’m running.”
This contest is one of several in Westchester where a long serving incumbent is being challenged by a progressive democrat. Idoni has the support of most of the local democratic committees and from the Working Families Party and from the Westchester Coaltion for Legal Abortion, WCLA. Democrats across Westchester have known and respected Idoni, not only in his role as County Clerk, but before that as Mayor of New Rochelle.
Williams has been able to push back against Idoni’s support in her campaign, which has raised money, produced TV spots and is an active and real campaign for County Clerk that includes the endorsement from Assemblymember Nader Sayegh. Williams represents the First City Council District in Yonkers. In order to be sucessful, Williams must win her home City of Yonkers, but regardless of the outcome, Shanae Williams has improved her political future with her energenic run for County Clerk.
In our view, Idoni has done nothing that warrants his removal as County Clerk. Williams has claimed that Idoni changed his mind to run for a fourth term to boost his pension. While it is true that Idoni was not running and then running for re-eleciton, that is not enough to remove him from office. Idoni is a good manager of a branch of government, and the taxpayers benefit from his oversight.
The candidacies of several progressive, Black Women on the ballot in the democratic primary June 22 could impact this countywide race.
Greenburgh Supervisor: This democratic primary has long serving incumbent Paul Feiner being challenged by Tasha Young. While we have admired Feiner’s leadership in Greenburgh for decades, we have also been impressed by Ms. Young’s campaign and the issues that she has been highlighting. Specifically, Young has challenged Feiner on what many believe is his greatest strength; the management of the Town of Greenburgh. Several recent million-dollar settlements against the town has given Young the opportunity to call Feiner a bad manager. This race will also be decided by democrats who must decide whether they want change or a continuation of the same.
Mt. Vernon City Council & Comptroller:
Democrats in Mt. Vernon will be casting their vote for three members of the City Council and Comptroller. Two slates of City Council candidates are running against each other. The first slate is endorsed by the Mt. Vernon Democratic City Committee; Councilmember Janice Duarte, former Council member and interim Mayor Andre Wallace, and Lauren Carter.
The opposition slate of Council candidates, calling themselves the Mt. Vernon Forward slate, consists of Danielle Browne, Cathlin Gleason, and Edward Poteat.
The City Committee slate has been endorsed by County Executive George Latimer and County Clerk Tim Idoni. The Mt. Vernon Forward ticket has been endorsed by Mt. Vernon Mayor Shawyn Patterson -Howard, which shows that democrats are split on this race.
The most important contest on the ballot June 22 is for Mt. Vernon Comptroller. Both candidates are qualified to serve and will replace the current Comptroller Deborah Reynolds at the end of the year. We hope that is not too late to fix the damage that Reynolds has done to the City and its taxpayers by not paying bills and refusing to cooperate with the City Council and the Mayor.
Derickson Lawrence and Darren Morton are the two candidates for Comptroller. Morton works for Mayor Patterson-Howard, while Lawrence is the true outsider. Both have the qualifications to overseee the finances of the City. Morton would work more closely with the Mayor, while Lawrence would be a true, independent Comptroller, which is perhaps what Mt. Vernon needs at this point.
The City of Yonkers is the other democratic primary hotspot in Westchester, with contests for Council President, three City Council seats and two county board seats all on the ballot June 22. Early voting has already begun, or you may have ordered your ballot and mailed in or dropped off your vote. If you haven’t and are a registered democrat, get out and vote!
