Collins-Bellamy Wins City Council President’s Race-54-46
Nolan Defeats Walter for County Board 53-47
Merante Beats Hodges for Council, 6th District 51-49
By Dan Murphy
The Yonkers elections of 2021 were closer than most expected, most notably in the three closely watched contests on Nov. 2. In the race for Yonkers City Council President, democrat Lakisha Collins-Bellamy defeated republican Ron Matten. The result of this contest was expected, but not the close result, with Collins-Bellamy winning by a 54%-46% margin. At midnight on election night, Collins-Bellamy declared victory, and on January 1, 2022, will become the first African-American Female City Council President. Collins-Bellamy defeated current Council President Mike Khader in the democratic primary and Matten in the general election. She has certainly earned the office of Council President, and Matten, with his strong surprising showing, has earned the right to run for office again.
“I would like to thank the voters in the City of Yonkers for this historic win, as well as all the volunteers who were out on Election Day manning polling stations, making phone calls, and knocking on doors. I am eagerly looking forward to starting my work, and now that the time for politics is over, it’s now time to get to work and take care of the people’s business to make Yonkers a better place for everyone,” said Council President elect Collins-Bellamy.
The other big race in Yonkers and in Westchester was for County Legislator in the 15th District between republican James Nolan and democrat Ruth Walter. Nolan was elected on Nov. 2 with 53% of the vote to 47% for Walter. “Everyone recognized how hard Nolan worked to get this,” said one Yonkers republican. “I think he just outworked Ruth.”
The Nolan-Walter race was the #1 County Board race in Westchester and it did not disappoint. Nolan will now join the county board as the 2nd republican, joining Legislator Margaret Cunzio who was re-elected on Nov. 2. “To the residents of District 15, I’m humbled by the support I received last night. I am declaring victory this morning. This is our victory. To Legislator Ruth Walter and her supporters, you all worked so hard & advocated for issues important to District 15. This was a contentious campaign and I hope we can work together in the future on behalf of District 15. Tomorrow, the works begins. Thank you again, District 15,” said Nolan, who also thanked his family, staff and volunteers.
The race for Yonkers City council in the 6th District, with republican councilmember Anthony Merante against democrat Tim Hodges, was the closest in Yonkers on election night and the day after, as counting and recounting continued. As of press time, Merante was confident of victory and supporters of Hodges had quietly congratulated Merante, who was ahead by more than 200 votes, with 174 absentee ballots possibly in the mail, making it impossible for Hodges to overcome the lead, barring a serious error. A little more than 5,000 ballots were cast in the 6th Council District.
Low turnout across Yonkers helped republican candidates and hurt democrats, who hold a large enrollment advantage. Minor parties did play a role, with Nolan receiving 603 votes on the conservative line, Collins-Bellamy getting 694 votes on the Working Familise Party line.
There were mixed views on what happened in Yonkers for Election 2021. Some democrats blamed the progressive wing of the party and the troubles of President Joe Biden. “Not all democrats are progressives, many of us are moderates and some of the moderate democrats in the party are conservative democrats. I understand that is now an oxymoron, conservative democrat, but I’m glad Tim Hodges embraced it. I think our democratic party needs to take a good look at our ideology locally, statewide and nationally,” said one Yonkers democratic leader.
Two Yonkers City Councilmembers, democrats Corazon Pineda-Isaac and John Rubbo, each won re-election without a serious challenge. Both councilmembers now move on to a possible contest between each other for Majority Leader on the City Council next year, and perhaps in a democratic primary for mayor in two years. They are two young rising political stars in Yonkers.
Yonkeers Democratic Chair Tom Meier said, “In the more conservative parts of Yonkers, there are still voters that will come out and say we don’t want the extremes. Democrats come out to vote in Presidential years and for a Governor’s race, but they don’t come out in high numbers for a city council race or a county board race. That is something that our party needs to work on, to get our base excited for off year eletions”
