L-R-Dan D’Amico, John Issac, Bebe Ahmed, Westchester GOP Chair Doug Colety, Anthony Merante, Brandon Neider, Edwina Herrera
By Ron Matten
The Westchester County Republicans held their nominating Convention on Sunday, February 22. The upstairs banquet hall at Westchester Manor was filled with a sense of urgency. Not because of any contentious wranglings, but because Westchester was hours away from the Blizard of 2026.
Doug Colety the longstanding County Chair and Republican Board of Elections Commissioner took decisive control of the meeting, which presented few surprises. For decades, Republican conventions have been scripted. Candidates declared well before the convention and local political committees have had a chance to meet the announced candidates to interview them. Executive committees are granted all the power of selection by way of the much-maligned proxy process. Rarely have there been any dark horse candidates and this Sunday was no exception.
The Yonkers slate had declared early in January:
· Anthony Merante for Senate District 35
· John Issac For Assembly District 90
· Brandon Neider for Assembly District 89
· Dan D’Amico for County Legislature District 16
· James Nolan for Re-election to County Legislative District 15
· Bebe Ahmed for County Legislative District 14
Khristen Kerr from Greenburgh who had run for Senate District 35 had also declared her intention to challenge Merante for the party endorsement. Ms. Kerr ran for SD 35 two times before but never received more than 35% of the vote. On the second round, Ms. Kerr’s percentage dipped below 34%.
The only contest of the afternoon was Kerr versus Merante. At the end of the floor vote, Merante won handedly with overwhelming support of the Yonkers delegation. Mr. Merante had over 22 thousand votes to Ms. Kerr’s five thousand and change. At the time of printing, it appears that Khristen Kerr will be attempting to primary Anthony Merante the Republican endorsed candidate.
It was one year ago that the Yonkers City Committee was at odds with former Councilman Merante and his League of the Aggrieved. During his interview process Merante challenged the Committee to endorse his slate as a first step in unity. The Yonkers Republican City Committee extended the olive branch by overwhelmingly endorsing the slate.
While Sunday’s convention was generally good news for republicans, the election season will be long and at times contentious. Time will tell if the Republican Party of Yonkers is on the mend.
