State Senator Pete Harckham
By Dan Murphy
State Senator Pete Harckham has represented the 40th Senate District since he was elected in 2018, when he defeated Republican State Senator Terrence Murphy by a 52%-48% margin. He then defeated Rob Astorino in 2020, by a 51%-49% margin, and has defeated Gina Arena in 2022 and 2024 by a 54%-46% margin.
Senator Harckham is a proven winner, as a democrat, in a senate district that is about as evenly drawn up as they come.
Several months ago, we heard loud rumors from both sides of the aisle that Harckham was going to announce at the end of the year that he was stepping down from his Senate post to take a position in Westchester County government. Sources from both parties discussed what they were hearing with us, as well as people inside Westchester County government.
All confirmed that Harckham was not happy with the commute and that he wanted his time in Albany to come to an end. Harckham and Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins served together on the Westchester Board of Legislators 10 years ago and remain close.
We decided not to run this story, but we were surprised to read a post on Facebook from Harckham which reads, “To quell any speculation about my future plans, I will be running for re-election to the State Senate next year. Simply, the challenges ahead are too great for me to walk away from this important responsibility, and I look forward to a meaningful political discussion next year.”
Harckham made the post on September 2, a full 14 months before his next re-election, in November 2026.
Some in Albany were scratching their heads wondering why Harckham would feel the need to make such an early announcement. They also wondered what ‘any speculation about my future plans’ means.
NY Senate Democrats currently hold a supermajority of 41-22, so they don’t need to hold onto Harckham’s seat. But it is obviously a big deal for State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to hold onto this seat, and all democratic state senate seats in the NY suburbs.
Hackham’s seat is always one of only a few that are considered in play every two years because it includes Republican-Trump Putnam County, and a republican held it before Harckham.
One of our Albany insiders told us, “Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins doesn’t want to lose this seat. So, if there was speculation that Pete was getting out of the senate, that may be the reason why he appears to have changed his mind. He was told to run again.”
We also heard about several democrats in the district, “putting out feelers” to gauge support if Harckham got out. And while some of those democratic names could have had a good chance at winning next year, the lack of a great democratic candidate to replace him is another reason why Harckham is staying in the race.
Since defeating Senator Murphy, Harckham has been able to use his incumbency to keep any bigger name republicans in the district from challenging him—namely, Assemblyman Matt Slater and Putnam County Executive Kevin Byrne.
And we hear Arena, who has built up support from republicans in the district, wants to run one more time for Hackham’s senate seat. But it is not Arena that worries democrats about this senate seat.
The Yorktown GOP recently held its re-org meeting, and its leadership includes former Senator Terrence Murphy and Assemblyman Matt Slater. Slater’s name keeps coming up as an obvious candidate, but only if Harckham were to step down. Nobody thinks that Murphy is making a comeback, but there are many out there who would like to see it happen.
Senator Harckham has become a go-to member of the State Senate on Environmental issues. As Chair of the Senate’s Environmental Conservation Committee, Harckham has been at the forefront in warning Westchester residents and all New Yorkers about the fact that we “Are Drowning in Plastics,” and how our bird population has significantly declined.
Harckham recently led a rally against proposals to build two gas pipelines in New York State. And he is running for re-election….in 14 months.
