By Dan Murphy
Eight democrats are seeking to replace “Westchester’s Congresswoman” Nita Lowey in the 17th district, representing all of Rockland County and the Westcheter communities of White Plains, Rye, Harrison, New Castle, North Castle, Chappaqua, Peekskill, Croton, Ossining and Greenburgh.
They are: Assemblyman David Buchwald, State Senator David Carlucci, Mondaire Jones, Evelyn Farkas, County Legislator Catherine Parker, Alison Fine, Adam Schleifer and Asha Castleberry-Hernandez.
We spoke to several democrats about the race, and if there was one underlying theme it was “everything is out the window.” Most of our inside Westchester politicos told us that the top five democrats in this race are Schleifer, Buchwald, Jones, Carlucci and Farkas. But beyond that, and based on the uncertainty that the Coronavirus has brought to every part of our lives, including politics, nobody wanted to even take a guess at who might win the democratic primary June 23.
“The virus has obliterated this campaign, and campaigns across the country,” said one Westchester democrat. “We now have Facebook town halls, which are slightly underwhelming. Nobody is paying attention right now, and will they be paying attention in June? If we finally open up in June, then it will be a sprint to the finsh “
Another Westchester democratic leader said, “In theory, incumbent candidates, and candidates with name recognition should be at the top of any list. But usually, those same incumbents work hard, and go to train stations to shake hands every morning. That whole ground game is missing in this race for everyone.”
A third Westchester democrat told us that this race is two different contests. “The race for Rockland County and for Westchester County. In Rockland State Sen. David Carlucci and Mondaire Jones are the two favorites. In Westchester, its David Buchwald and Evelyn Farkas.”
Democratic strategists working inside some of the campaigns said that the winner could come from either of the four candidates listed above.
“Mondaire has $800,000 in the bank and has the AOC type of support from progressive-indivisible democrats. Carlucci has a good ground game in Rockland and can turn out seniors. He also might be able to get an absentee ballot operation going, but will the senior centers remain closed?”
“In Westchester, David has most of the endorsements wrapped up, and the local democratic committees behind him as well. That will help in getting in the absentee ballots Nobody would be surprised if Buchwald wins the primary. If there is a front runner, he’s it.”
Another Westchester democrat in the 17th Congressional District told us that they thought “The congressional race for New York’s 17th District will come down to two people: Adam Schleifer and David Carlucci.”
Evelyn Farkas’s campaign was given high marks by all of the democrats we spoke to. “She has money and a good story. She has presented herself well in the debates and has been a guest on cable TV news shows so she can make the case. But she is an unknown so far and will have to spend on TV commercials and online.”
Farkas has been conducting ‘whistle stop tours’, and discussion on Zoom during the stay at home order. She also received the endorsement from Actor-Director Rob Reiner. “At this critical moment, with our democracy under attack from international adversaries and undermined by domestic partisans, I could not imagine a better person to send to Congress. Simply put, Evelyn is the leader we need for these troubled times.”
Farkas served as a high-ranking Department of Defense official appointed by President Obama, and is the daughter of Hungarian refugees, and raised in Westchester. Farkas registered to vote at her parents Chappaqua home but continued to receive a tax exemption on her Washington DC Condo. “Farkas is a dangerous candidate but she’s living in Washington. She’s not a truly from Westchester,” said one democrat.
Mondaire Jones has been collecting endorsements, from Senator and former Presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Ayanna Pressley ( a member of the ‘squad’) and from the NY Working Families Party. On the local leve, Jones came out with a list of 40 local democrats endorsing his campaign, including 22 from Westchester.
“Village of Irvington Mayor Brian Smith.said, “His story and his demeanor are very inspiring, and I knew immediately that he is the type of leader we desperately need in Washington. I was a Republican for most of my life, and Mondaire and I don’t agree on every issue, but I know he has the judgment and integrity to be a phenomenal representative.”
Port Chester Village Trustee Joan Grangenois-Thomas said “Mondaire is an activist at heart and I am so proud to support his campaign,He is running a grassroots campaign that isn’t funded by corporate PACs, but instead is powered by everyday people. He recognizes that this economy isn’t working for everyone and that there are people in this community who are struggling.”
Assemblyman Buchwald recently came out in support of County Executive Latimer’s plan to give temporary tax relief to Westchester homeowners. “Governor Andrew Cuomo and County Executive George Latimer deserve great credit for taking action to protect property taxpayers during this pandemic, I have also been advocating to provide relief to taxpayers whose payments are coming due at a time when so many are struggling. As a tax attorney, I have always believed in standing up for taxpayers and this Executive Order helps Westchester residents who have lost their jobs or been forced to shut down their businesses,” said
Buchwald, who has collected fifty endorsements from local democras and democratic commitees, including Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, White Plains Mayor Tom Roach, County Clerk Tim Idoni, and the Democratic committees in North Castle, Harrison, Yorktown, White Plains, New Castle, and Mt. Plesant.
One Democrat said that the race remains “very fragmented. You have four women from Westchester (Parker, Fine, Farkas and Castleberry-Hernandez) trying to get their campaigns to take off, with four men (Buchwald, Carlucci, Jones, Schleifer) tying to do the same. There just isn’t enough interest or willingness from the public to listen to them all,” said one Westchester democrat.
Over the next 7 weeks, Westchester voters can plan on seeing a lot of advertising from the candidates, on local cable TV and on social media and some other platforms that allow buyers to narrow there audience to voters in the district. These candidates have a lot of money to spend and no other way to connect to the voters. So we will see a media storm in late May and early June. Adam Schleifer has already spent $300,000 on ad buys and mailings, and that will help in this kind of a race, where campaigning door to door isn’t going to happen.
The other unknown as one democrat told us, was “who if anyone will go negative against the candidate that they think is in their way?”
