Cait Conley
Lanny Gilbert’s Big Win for Democrats in Yorktown; Eastchester is now the Only 5-0 Republican board in Westchester.
By Dan Murphy
A few takeaways from Election 2025 in Westchester.
I-Democrats won the day, not only in Westchester but in New Jersey and Virginia. The victories by Congresswoman Spanberger and Congresswoman Sherrill point to a shift in the electorate, away from President Trump and MAGA and back toward the Democratic Party, especially in America’s suburbs.
81% of young women voted for Mamdani in NYC, 80% for Sherrill in NJ, and 78% for Spanberger in Virginia. Both Spanberger and Sherrill were Congresswomen. Sherrill served in the Navy and as a federal prosecutor, while Spanberger served our country in intelligence.
All of this means that here in Westchester, if democrats pick a female candidate like Sherrill and Spanberger to run for Congress in NY-17, then Mike Lawler can be defeated. And if Lawler goes, so goes the House of Representatives to democrats next year.
Currently, seven democrats have announced their run for Congress in NY-17, after Jessica Reinmann ended her campaign and endorsed Cait Conley. Conley, an Army Veteran with three Bronze Stars, is one of the leading candidates, along with Rockland County legislator Beth Davidson.
Lanny Gilbert
II- In Yorktown, former Yorktown Supervisor and Town Justice, Democrat Lanny Gilbert was elected to the Yorktown Town Board after all early votes and paper ballots were tallied.
Gilbert will join Democrat Susan Siegel on the Town Board, which will still have a 3-2 Republican majority. Gilbert, 5559 votes, narrowly defeated republican councilwoman Luciana Haughwourt, 5442 votes.
Days before the election, Gilbert reminded voters that I lost my 2015 election by just eight votes, and Susan Siegel won her election last year by just 107 votes.
III-The Town of Eastchester is the only remaining town board in Westchester with all Republicans, 5-0, after Supervisor Tony Colavita and council members Luigi Marcoccia and Theresa Nicholson were all reelected unopposed.
Other Republican-majority town boards in Westchester now have Democratic members, including in Mt. Pleasant, Yorktown, Harrison, and Somers.
IV-Conservative Party Alliance with Democrats in Westchester continues. Westchester Conservative Party Chair Hugh Fox continued his party’s recent alliance with democratic candidates by endorsing democrats in several 2025 elections.
In the Town of North Castle, Democrat Sonny Vataj ran on the conservative line, while Republican Barbara DiGiacinto also ran on the C line. Both won election to the Town Board.
In the Town of Harrison, the election of Town Clerk was decided by the C line, with democrat Angela Sposato narrowly defeating republican Dottie Klein. Sposato had the C line and received 209 votes. Klein lost by less than 100 votes, and if you give her the C line, she would have won.
And in the election for State Supreme Court Judge in the 9th Judicial District, which includes Westchester County, three Democratic candidates had the C line and won. All four Democratic judicial candidates for the State Supreme Court were from Westchester, and all won decisively by 90,000 votes. Congratulations to Judge Verris Shako, Judge-elect Diane Clerkin, Judge John Collins, and Judge Desmond Lyons.
In Eastchester, Colavita, Marcoccia, and Nicholson ran on the republican and the Common Sense Party line.
The action by Chairman Fox and the Westchester Conservative Party is the only instance of a Conservative Party in New York State endorsing Democrats.
V-Republicans split on Sculti and Colety: Republican leaders and candidates we spoke to were divided in their views of County Executive candidate Christine Sculti and Westchester GOP Chair Doug Colety.
Sculti lost her bid for County Executive for the third time on Nov. 4, losing to Ken Jenkins by a record 68%-32%. One Somers republican wrote, “It was only 8 years ago that republican Rob Astorino was County Executive. Since then, Republican candidates have kept losing. I would argue, as you have, Mr. Murphy, that republicans cannot win with their top candidate losing by 35 points, year after year.
“I would also blame Westchester Chairman Doug Colety for running candidates who keep losing by 35 points for County Executive. Make a change, Doug, or we will make a change with you. If not, then I say the fix is in.”
Other local republican leaders tell a different story. “We knew Sculti was going to run again and lose. I told her not to run, but I give her credit for doing it again with no money and little support. I also don’t blame Colety because he asked many Republicans to step forward and run, and all of them refused. So it was Sculti or nobody. If you ask Joe Citizen to run against Ken Jenkins —or any popular Democrat —nobody wants to do it anymore. Maybe it’s the Trump factor. Who is going to run for County Executive, and who will serve as republican Chair in Westchester? Both are thankless jobs.”
Some compared the race for Westchester County Executive to the race for NYC Mayor. “Republicans in NYC reran Curtis Sliwa, after he lost by 30 to Eric Adams four years ago. There was no prominent republican to run for NYC Mayor. Same candidate, same result.”
VI-Searching for a republican that did better than expected. Slim pickings in this category, but we defer to TJ McCormack, who is now the overnight host on WABC Radio -AM 770.
Other election results:
Peekskill Mayor:
DEM VIVIAN CYNDI MCKENZIE 2,741 70%
TLP RAMON A. FERNANDEZ 1,176 30%
Yonkers City Council President
Working Families Party candidate –
WFP- WOR ANGELIQUE F. LOPEZ 1,223 5%
What did we miss? Email us at dmurphy@risingmediagroup.com
