County Legislator James Nolan
County Legislator Margaret Cunzio
By Dan Murphy
The election results from Nov. 3 in Westchester left republicans with no elected members on the County Board of Legislators. Republican County Legislator James Nolan is losing to democrat Kisha Skipper by a 55.5%-44.5% margin, with more votes to be tabulated. Many believe that Skipper’s 999 vote lead over Nolan is large enough to give her the victory.
Legislator Margaret Cunzio, a registered Conservative, also lost her race to democrat Michael Peppard, 57%-43%. Cunzio frequently voted with the democratic super-majority on the BOL, but the loss of both non-democrats on the BOL means that in January, ALL 17 COUNTY LEGISLATORS WILL BE DEMOCRATS.
Cunzio has served five, two-year terms on the county board; Nolan has served three terms.
The latest results will not have any real impact on the day to day operations of the BOL. Currently, with a 15-2 super majority, democrats could pass any legislation with or without Nolan or Cunzio.
But the political visual of republicans not having any representative on the Westchester County Board is glaring and shows how drastic the republicans slide has been.
After winning every county board seat, Westchester democrats don’t have any republicans to debate. Together with County Executive Ken Jenkins, democrats will now hold EVERY ELECTED OFFICE IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY GOVERNMENT, with all 17 seats on the county board, the county executive, county clerk and districr attorney all democrats.