By Dan Murphy
The Democratic race for State Senate in the 40th District, which includes most of northern Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, to see who will take on Sen. Terrence Murphy, has started to tighten up.
Former County Legislator Pete Harckham, a late entry into the race, has recently received several Democratic committee endorsements, while Democrat Robert Kesten, the early entry into the Senate race, has had a few of his endorsements turn into co-endorsements for both Harckham and Kesten.
Four Democratic Party-political groups in Putnam and Westchester counties have endorsed Harckham, including the Mount Kisco Democratic Committee and Somers Democratic Town Committee. The Pound Ridge Democratic Committee reversed an earlier endorsement of Kesten and endorsed Harckham. Additionally, the Putnam County Democratic Committee gave Harckham its co-endorsement and the Cortlandt Democratic Committee voted to revoke its prior endorsement of Kesten.
“I’m so grateful for the incredible momentum our campaign has picked up after only a few weeks since our announcement,” said Harckham. “These progressive Democratic organizations represent Hudson Valley values, not Donald Trump values, and I am inspired by their decision to join with us in a coalition effort to bring a Democratic majority to the New York State Senate. Democrats understand that experience matters.”
These key endorsements follow last month’s backing by the Westchester-Putnam chapter of the Working Families Party. The 40th State Senate District includes the 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.
“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, who emphasized his experience and proven record of accomplishments as a Westchester County legislator for four terms (two terms as Democratic majority leader) and three years as a member of the Cuomo Administration.
Harckham or Kesten’s opponent in November will be incumbent Sen. Murphy, who last month introduced a bill that would require a government-issued ID (driver’s license or state identification) to be presented when casting a ballot.
Murphy’s bill, which has only two co-sponsors (both Senate Republicans), has drawn the attention of Fox News and the wrath of Senate Democrats. Murphy recently appeared on a Fox News national broadcast to explain his bill.
“This is common-sense legislation,” he said. “My son needs ID to take out a book at the library. All we are asking for is a photo ID that matches your signature. Seventeen other states have this law.”
Murphy, however, admitted that his bill has no chance of becoming law. “I think it gets through the Senate but will not pass the Assembly,” he said. “The right to vote is sacred and people who want to vote should have to present the same ID as if they wanted to apply for a fishing license.”
The NY Post said Murphy’s bill “has set off a firestorm.”
“This is right out of the Trump playbook,” said Senate Democratic Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins. “Legislation like this has no place in New York. We need to make it easier to vote and not set up unnecessary roadblocks or dangerous scare tactics.”
Harckham called Murphy’s voter ID bill “a solution in search of a problem. Voter impersonation is vanishingly rare and every study that has examined the issue has borne this out,” he said. “The only thing voter ID laws accomplish are to disenfranchise poor and historically oppressed communities. Sen. Murphy’s S298 bill will not deter fraud. It can lead to the kind voter suppression we left behind in the Jim Crow era. This is clearly not in keeping with Hudson Valley values.
“We need to enable voters, rather than create barriers to voting access,” continued Harckham. “There is currently no early voting or automatic voter registration in New York State because of obstructionist efforts in the Republican-controlled State Senate. We need progressive policies that would strengthen the state’s electoral system and make it easier for voters to participate in elections.”
According to Harckham, calls for voter ID regulations can be traced back to President Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud. Once the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity found no evidence to support this claim, Trump shut the commission down. In other states, photo ID voting laws have been challenged or struck down in court, and even Republican Rep. John Faso, whose Congressional District 19 overlaps with part of New York Senate District 40, has said he has “not seen any evidence that New York needs a voter identification law.”
Murphy’s bill will also not have the support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, so it begs the question: Is Murphy playing politics with the bill? Harckham can use the bill to increase his support in the Westchester-progressive parts of the district; Murphy can do the same in the Republican parts of the district in Putnam and Dutchess counties.
