Traditional Democrats, WCLA, Win the day
By Dan Murphy
Westchester Democrats gathered last week remotely to elect Suzanne Berger to be the next County Democratic Chairman. Berger, who serves as the Chair of the Greenburgh Democratic Party, will become the first female leader of Westchester’s 650,000 registered democrats after defeating Mt. Kisco Democratic Chair Bill Serratore by a 53%-47% margin.
“As the first elected woman Westchester County Democratic Chair, you have my promise to work collarboratively for a strong, fair, and united party that does justice to all its members and Democrats countywide. I ask for your support and partnership in this endeavor,” said Berger.
“Bill Serratore has been an active leader for many years and I look forward to working with him. we have a lot to accomplish to make sure of a true blue November election. We are strongest when we work together.”
Berger narrowly defeated Serratore by putting together a coalition of democratic committees from Greenburgh, New Rochelle, Mt. Vernon, and White Plains. Berger also had the support from ‘traditional democrats” in Westchester including many democratic elected officials.
Serratore, had the support of most of the progressive-indivisible democrats who were also district leaders in the Westchester Democratic Party. He also had the support of the Yonkers Democratic Committee and several northern westchester democratic parties.
Two factors that may have helped Berger’s small margin of victory as one democratic leader told us, “Serratore promised a lot of things to a lot of people. That narrative got around, that he promised perhaps too much. Suzanne is a tireless worker, who was a liberal before it was fashionable. She also tough and knows how to fight for what she believes in.”
Another factor was that Berger received the support from the Westchester Coaltion for Legal Abortion, WCLA, in the final days before the covention. “On a typical day, in a typical week, WCLA – Choice Matters and its 2 political action committees would not get involved in party politics. Choice Matters, ProChoice Voter and WCLA PAC are proudly non-partisan. But these are not typical times. AND, our mission is simple – to advance abortion rights. Choice Matters and WCLA PAC are proud to support and endorse Suzanne Berger for Chair of the Westchester County Democratic Party Committee,” wrote the WCLA.
“Suzanne Berger is literally the ONLY candidate in this race who has demonstrated a true and unwavering commitment to abortion rights and reproductive freedom. Abortion rights is not just a bullet point on a list or a photo op. It is not simply attending an event or having a photo snapped with elected officials. Quite the contrary.
“Being an abortion rights advocate and an activist is a fundamental commitment – one that Suzanne Berger has demonstrated over and over again. Under Suzanne Berger’s leadership, ALL of Greenburgh candidates running for office have been interviewed by Choice Matters to determine whether they are truly committed to a woman’s right to make her own decisions. The interviews and Choice Matters’ respective pro-choice rating have been reported to Greenburgh’s Executive Committee.
“Suzanne’s opponent has done none of this. What does being “pro-choice” mean? It is a phrase thrown around by many because it helps candidates get elected – just like Jeannine Pirro and Robert Castelli did. For Choice Matters, a candidate cannot be “kind of” pro-choice. Just as you cannot be a little pregnant, you cannot be a little pro-choice.
“Now, across this nation, we face a reckoning. Our constitutional rights are being challenged and threatened. And sadly, today, the fight for women’s reproductive freedom is sinking to the bottom of that bushel basket of rights.
“Suzanne has proven herself a forceful voice for the rights of all – regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, disability, financial fortitude or gender identity. Please join me in supporting Suzanne Berger for Westchester County Democratic Chair,” wrote WCLA President Katherine Lederer.
The letter of support for Berger from the WCLA, and its criticism of Serratore, received a response from Serratore’s supporters, including County Legislator Catherine Parker. “You may have seen the endorsement from Choice Matters WCLA stating that Suzanne Berger is the only Pro-Choice candidate. False, false, false. Bill Serratore has been Pro-Choice his whole life. It’s rather disheartening to see a false and misleading tactic turned against a strong ally within our own party. We must be able to come together after Thursday and this kind of thing speaks to some old playbook usually reserved for conservative opponents. Suzanne, you know better than that, and you should reject the endorsement and distance yourself from the surrogate that has blemished what was, until now, a positive campaign,” wrote Parker.
The other, larger takeaway was that “Berger won through a traditional coaltion of Westchester Democrats, hispanic democrats and black democrats. Bill Serratore lost with a coaltion of indivisible and progressive democrats and Yonkers democrats, led by Mayor Mike Spano. But the Yonkers Democrats were split, Ken Jenkins supported Berger, while many district leaders from Yonkers didn’t show up and there proxies were not to be found.”
