By Dan Murphy
As Republican State Sen. Terrence Murphy gears up for his third, and most difficult, election campaign in the 40th District, which includes the northern Westchester communities of Briarcliff Manor, Buchanan, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, Mount Pleasant, New Castle, North Salem, Peekskill, Pleasantville, Pound Ridge, Sleepy Hollow, Somers and Yorktown, two Democrats are vying for the right to challenge Murphy.
The first Democrat to get into the race was Robert Kesten, a political and non-profit consultant and district leader from Lewisboro. Kesten has spent the past six months traveling the district, which runs north into Putnam and Dutchess counties, speaking to groups large and small, and accumulating interest and support for his campaign.
Kesten also appears to be uniquely fit to the progressive, indivisible, Democratic voters who have flexed their muscles in recent elections in Westchester. He continues to tout his “growing list of endorsements,” which now includes the Beekman Democratic Committee, Beekman Indivisible, Briarcliff Ossining Indivisible, Carmel Democratic Committee, CCoHOPE Indivisible, CD17 Indivisible, Coalition for a Better SD40, Cortlandt Democratic Committee, Harmony Huddle of Pawling, Indivisible Pawling, Indivisible Yorktown NY, Indivisible Westchester, Lewisboro Democratic Committee, Mt. Pleasant Democratic Committee, New Castle Democratic Committee, North Salem Democratic Committee, Northern Westchester Democratic Coalition, Patterson Democratic Committee, Peekskill Democratic City Committee, Pound Ridge Democratic Committee, Putnam Progressives, Town of Pawling Democratic Party, Up2Us, Voices Rising and Yorktown Democratic Committee.
Although relatively unknown, Kesten continued to cruise along to what appeared to be the Democratic nomination to face Murphy, when former Democratic Westchester County Legislator Peter Harckham jumped into the race last month. Harckham, who left the County Board to work in the administration of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, was rumored to be “encouraged” to run by the governor to help secure a Democratic majority this November in the State Senate.
“We need a progressive senator who will fight for Hudson Valley values, not Donald Trump’s values,” said Harckham. “As state senator, I will fight full-time to protect New York’s taxpayers, see that every New Yorker has access to high-quality health care including opioid treatment, guard our fragile drinking water supply, ensure that every child in the Hudson Valley receives a quality education, and force area electric utilities to finally provide a storm-resilient power supply.”
Harckham added that he would also dedicate himself to protecting area families and schools by making sure the SAFE Act is not repealed.
“We have a unique opportunity to win the New York State Senate by defeating Terrence Murphy, whose extreme positions on election reform, school safety, victim’s rights and women’s health care are out of touch with the values of the majority of the voters in this district,” said Harckham.
Kesten’s campaign responded to Harckham’s entry by stating: “Cuomo has inserted his ‘owned’ man into the Senate race to primary for District 40 against Robert Kesten. Robert has the endorsements of all SD40 Democratic committees and grassroots activist groups. Cuomo will try to undo that. Murphy is sitting back and laughing at Cuomo.”
A published media report had Kesten questioning “the secrecy” of what Cuomo and Harckham are attempting to do. “I think all is fair in politics and they’re not doing anything that is abnormal,” he said. “It’s a shame to come in, I think, this late in this way, not being transparent about what they’re trying to do.
“We are proud to have earned the endorsements of nearly all of the Democratic committees in the 40th Senate District, as well as virtually all activist groups,” continued Kesten. “Although we now find ourselves engaged in a Primary – something we thought we were clear of, allowing us to fully concentrate our efforts on November – we are nonetheless staying laser-focused on Terrence Murphy and his ‘party over people’ way of legislating. Looking ahead, petitioning starts June 5. Once the petitioning process is over, we will begin working to win the primary. Please mark your calendars for the Thursday, Sept. 13 primary election.”
One Westchester Democrat we spoke to pointed to a similar political event that happened in 2017 in Westchester. Democrat Ken Jenkins was running for county executive and had spent a considerable amount of time laying the groundwork for his run. At the last minute, in jumps another Democrat in the race. His name was George Latimer, and Latimer was able to mend fences, win the election, and bring Jenkins in as deputy county executive.
“If you do it right, it can be done, but be careful,” said the source.
Another reliable Democratic source told us that many of the Democratic and indivisible groups that have already endorsed Kesten will not change their endorsement. This includes the Yorktown Democratic Committee and Yorktown Indivisible, both of whom voted not to change their endorsement. The Peekskill Democratic Committee also chose to stick with Kesten, and rejected an idea for a dual endorsement of Kesten and Harckham.
The Kesten campaign also has an interesting contribution of $1,000 from a Janet Harckham in January, months before Peter Harckham jumped into the race.
Another rumor from this reliable source had Harckham lining up a job in the Latimer administration for Westchester County Government. “Just before Peter was going to get a job with Latimer, George was told to hold off because somebody wanted him to run for State Senate,” said the source.
The Kesten campaign has close connections to the Indivisible movement and groups throughout Westchester and in the 40th Senate District, and sources close to Indivisible say that they are angry over Harckham’s late entry into the race, and the governor’s endorsement of it all.
“If the governor was smart he wouldn’t have insulted Indivisible by backing and bankrolling Harckham’s campaign,” said one Indivisible Westchester member. “Indivisible has helped get Latimer elected, and helped campaign for Shelley Mayer for State Senate, and also get Democrats elected in Yorktown, a Republican town.
“Harckham’s pitch is’ I have the same agenda as Kesten but I can win because I can get the money, and wink, wink, I have the governor behind me,’” continued the source. “But what Harckham and the governor don’t realize is that lately, money isn’t winning these elections, its volunteers and enthusiasm.”
