Senator Shelley Mayer Endorses Latimer
State Senator Shelley Mayer, right, endorsed George Latimer for Congress in NY-16
By Dan Murphy
The upcoming Democratic Primary between Congressman Jamaal Bowman and County Executive George Latimer has quickly evolved into a political contest between the old way of running a campaign in Westchester (Latimer) vs. the New Progressive Politics of 2024 (Bowman).
Last week, the NY Post and Daily News ran a story about Latimer attending a fund raiser at the Larchmont home of Alex and Pamela Dubitsky. Pamela Dubitsky is an attorney who is active in the democratic party in Westchester. She was a member of the Larchmont Library board and is currently Chair of Westchester County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Board, and Commissioner with NYS Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (Taconic Region). She has contributed to Hillary Clinton and Governor Kathy Hochul. Her husband, Alex Dubitsky, is a republican who has donated to former President Donald Trump.
Those in attendance say the event included 50, current and former elected Westchester democrats and local democratic district leaders. There were a few independents and republicans but “the overwhelming number of people were involved democrats, and past or present officials in Larchmont or county government, and all democrats. Larchmont isn’t the bastion of conservatism that it once was,” said a Sound Shore democrat.
But the Working Families Party and Rep. Bowman attempted to link Latimer to Trump and MAGA. “George Latimer is now holding a fundraiser with a GOP mega-donor who has given tens of thousands of dollars to candidates like Trump and Stefanik,” and “The same donors who fund the MAGA movement are coming after Jamaal because he’s been one of the strongest advocates for democracy, abortion rights, and Black and brown communities who are so often left behind by politics as usual,” Tweeted NYWFP Co-Director Jasmine Gripper.
Bowman also tweeted, “Democrats across New York’s 16th District reject the hateful, divisive, racist politics of MAGA Republicans. It’s straight up damning that George Latimer would rather stand with Trump donors than help hard working people in our NY-16 community.”
Sound Shore Democrats believe that this attempt to discredit Latimer’s democratic and progressive bona fides backfired. “Everyone who attended this event is now emboldened to work harder for George, who is a proud Westchester democrat. To claim that there was a connection to MAGA in a room full of Westchester democrats, or that George Latimer is MAGA? Are you kidding me? Most Westchester spouses don’t agree completely in supporting political candidates. This happens all the time.”
Another Westchester democrat said, “while they were dropping social media bombs, Latimer is campaigning, meeting people, galvanizing support. I think that most of the people at that event were there to support George but without all of this nonsense. Bowman has shined the light on what, a fundraiser attended by 50 democrats?”
This week, NY State Senator Shelley Mayer endorsed Latimer for Congress in the Democratic Primary to be held on June 25th. Mayer, who succeeded Latimer as State Senator for the 37th district, cited his list of progressive accomplishments as a legislator and executive in explaining why he is the stronger choice for the 16th district.
“I’m honored to lend my strong support to George Latimer for Congress. George has been a tireless fighter when it counted most, taking tough positions, and working to deliver real results for the people I represent. George has been there on the issues we all care about, protecting our environment and addressing persistent flooding, fighting for our schools, including through the toughest days of the pandemic, standing up to hate, strongly supporting the right to abortion, making our criminal justice system fairer and stronger, getting guns off our streets and more. George does the hard work, shows up everywhere and then gets things done,” said Mayer. “With Republicans working to threaten our very democracy, our district needs a Congressmember who can be a unifying force, and who stands up for the values we share. That is George.”
“I’m so honored to receive Senator Mayer’s endorsement,” said Latimer. “These are challenging times, but Shelley has always been a strong, unifying voice against the divisiveness we see every day, she’s been a solid ally in government, and she’s an incredibly talented and progressive legislator. The issues we face today require real work and as Democrats we need to work together to deliver real results; that’s what Shelley and I have done throughout our careers in public service and it’s what we will continue to do to move forward.”
