County Executive Latimer Expected to Help Local democrats
By Dan Murphy
With Harrison Supervisor Ron Belmont retiring, and not running for re-election this year, the two remaining popular republicans in Westchester County are Eastchester Supervisor Tony Colavita and Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater.
Colavita is the long service Supervisor in Eastcheter, while Slater is finishing his first two year term as Supervisor in Yorktown. And both republicans serve in two of the most republican heavy towns in Westchester.
Colavita has opposition in his bid for re-election Nov. 2, in Democrat John Eickemeyer. Slater has no opposition in his re-election bid, with Yorktown democrats having mixed views about running a candidate against the popular Slater. Some believed that by not running a candidate for Supervisor, fewer republicans would come out to vote for Slater, and for the town board and county board races in Yorktown.
Others believed that democrats should have run a candidate against Slater, with one Westchester democrat telling us, “If you leave an office like Supervisor empty, it shows weakness in your party. Plus Slater is a rising star and you always want to put someone in the ring against him.” Slater is rumored to be considering a run for Assembly, if Assemblyman Kevin Byrne runs for Putnam County Executive, or for Westchester County Executive in four years. “Slater is the #1 Republican in Westchester, no doubt about it,” said one county republican.
Eastchester Supervisor Tony Colavita has done the impossible in today’s political climate. He has remained a popular and effective leader. He is respected and appreciated for his leadership over the town, and has found a balance between controlling spending in the Town’s budget in a community that has among the highest property taxes in the county for many homes on smaller property lots, while at the same time maintaining the services that these same residents and taxpayers expect.
The Eastchester Town Board is the only local government in Westchester that has all republican members, and hope that this year’s slate, includng Colavita and the Eastchester GOP their slate of candidates, Town Board members Luigi Marcoccia, and Theresa Nicholson, will win on Nov. 2.
Democrats continue to make headway in Eastchester but have a long way to go. The two democratic candidates for Town Board are Eileen DeLucia, and Niamh Hartnett Merluccio.
In Yorktown, democrats are running Councilman Vishnu Patel and Lanny Gilbert for Town Board, while Republicans are running Sergio Esposito and Luciana Haughwout. The outcome of this election will determine who holds a majority in Yorktown.
Harrison is the other Westchester town with a large number of republican residents and voters. But like the rest of the county, more democrats are moving in and more republicans are moving out. Without Mayor-Supervisor Ron Belmont at the top of the ticket, anything can happen this election.
Harrison republicans are running Town Councilman Rich Dionisio for Supervisor, and Liz Brown and Gina Evangelista for Town Council.
Democrats are running Town Councilman Frank Gordon for Supervisor and Rachel Berkey and Adam Weiner for Town Council.
The wildcard in the local races will be the race for county executive, between democrat George Latimer and republican Christine Sculti. Democrats see the possibility of a similar election result to 2017 when Latiimer beat Rob Astorino by 14 points in a “Blue Wave” of anti-Trump, democratic support.
Some predict a Latimer landslide of more than 20 points, but opinions are mixed as to what result a big Latimer win will have on the local races for Supervisor and Town Board.
Republicans think that there will be a push back to the progressive initiatives happending across the country, including defunding the police, or the spending and borrowing of Trillions of dollars, or immigration. And that will hurt democrats and help republicans locally.
Eastchester Republican Party Chairman Lou Reda said, “From what I’m hearing not only republicans are upset about the progressive, far-left turn our country is taking, but also independents and moderate democrats in Eastchester. They are fed up with out of control spending, crime, Afghanistan, everything the democrats have touched is a disaster.
“Supervisor Colavita and the Town Board have done an outstanding job in keeping Eastchester affordable and providing great quality services, which make our Town a great place to raise your family,” said Reda.
Democrats see challenges in Harrison, Yorktown and Eastchester, but feel comfortable with Latimer at the top of the ticket. “Can Latimer, with his popularity, provide coattails to candidates for county board and town council in those remaining republican strongholds. I would also include Lewisboro, where there is a competitive race for County Board, (District #2 republican Gina Arena vs democrat Erika Pierce in an open seat with Legislator Kitley Covill not running) and where Sculit is spending a lot of time,” said one county democrat.
“We saw this four years ago, when Damon Maher beat Sheila Marcotte, and after Jim Maisano retired, a republican couldn’t win his seat. Latimer’s coattails will have a lot to do with some other county board races, in District #1, (Dem, Legislator Colin Smith vs republican Joe Torres), and in District #4, (Dem Legislator Vedat Gashi vs. republican Robert Brower). This will be a test of his coattails and what republicans have left,” said a Westchester county democrat.
More on the Westchester Election of 2021 online, at YonkersTimes.com, and in the weeks to come.
