Westchester Democrats will have the opportunity to affect and change the politics in the Empire State on Sept. 13, if they come out and vote in the Democratic primary for several important positions.
On top of the ballot in the Democratic primary, and in the general election Nov. 6, will be the race for governor. Incumbent Gov. Andrew Cuomo is being challenged by actress and activist Cynthia Nixon in the Democratic primary. We do not make an endorsement in this race.
However, we do make an endorsement in the race for lieutenant governor. There are two candidates running for second in command, and while both are running on a ticket with their candidates for governor, voters must cast a vote for both governor and lieutenant governor.
Incumbent Kathy Hochul is running for re-election. She is being challenged by New York City Councilman Jumanji Williams, who said, “I have been causing as much trouble in the council and the city as possible in the past nine years.” He is a self-described “activist-elected official” and former Bernie Sanders delegate, has been arrested while campaigning and protesting, and has positions on several issues that do not coincide with Nixon.
While Williams may be the preferred candidate of the Indivisible crowd, we endorse Hochul, who has served the governor, and our state, well over the past four years – including several visits to Westchester.
The race for attorney general has four Democrats running to replace Eric Schneiderman and instantly become a national figure as the top law enforcement officer in New York and the leader of the legal fight against President Donald Trump.
The four Democrats include NYC Public Advocate Tish James, Leecia Eve, Zephyr Teachout and Congressman Sean Maloney. We remove Eve from consideration because of her ties to corporate America as a lobbyist.
We also remove Maloney from consideration because he is running for the Office of Attorney General while also running for his seat in Congress. While this may be legal, it is not ethical, in our view. Make up your mind, Mr. Maloney, and pick one office before asking the people of New York for your vote. We also do not agree with the tone of Maloney’s television commercials, in which he calls for taking a baseball bat to Trump supporters. No candidate for AG should mention physical violence in a TV ad or mailing.
That leaves James and Teachout. James is the preferred candidate of Cuomo and the Democratic establishment in New York. While capable and well known in New York City, James’ independence has been called into question with her support from the governor.
Teachout is our preferred candidate because we believe she would be the most independent attorney general candidate in state history. The New York Times, in its endorsement of Teachout, wrote: “The office is a potential firewall against an out-of-control president and a historically corrupt New York State government… Albany has long been a chamber of ethical horrors. Ms. Teachout has written the book on political corruption – literally – and is recognized as a national expert on this scourge.”
We agree and are reminded that Teachout ran an independent race for governor against Cuomo four years ago, which would give her a little more “additional credibility and distance from a governor who remains all too cozy with the donors, contractors, union leaders and influence peddlers who dominate Albany and beyond,” wrote the Times.
We believe that all of us New Yorker’s pay a “corruption tax” in this state. If elected, Teachout might be able to cut into that tax and give us a unique type of tax break. While we do not agree with her comments and threats to arrest Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, she is the best Democrat in the race and the most independent to serve as attorney general.
Two Democratic primaries for State Senate may result in deciding which party holds control of body for the next two years. Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins is facing a re-election challenge within her own party from Westchester County Legislator Virginia Perez.
Perez claims that Stewart-Cousins is more focused on her responsibilities as Democratic conference leader of the Senate Democrats and has ignored her constituents of the 35th District, which includes west Yonkers, Greenburgh, Mt. Pleasant, and parts of Scarsdale, New Rochelle and White Plains.
Stewart-Cousins has responded by listing her accomplishments for the district and for Democrats not only in Westchester, but across the state, on a number of progressive issues including gun safety laws, easing voter registration laws and protecting women’s health.
Some of Stewart-Cousins’ agenda items have been stopped by the Senate majority, led by Republican leader John Flanagan. Senate Republicans, together with a handful of renegade Democrats, have formed a majority for the past six years and have denied Stewart-Cousins her right to be majority leader.
Westchester Democrats welcome and await the day when Majority Leader Stewart-Cousins will preside over the State Senate, and that day may come Nov. 6. We join in waiting for that day and find no reason to turn away from giving Stewart-Cousins that opportunity to lead and represent Westchester.
We do not know what the outcome of a Perez upset victory would mean for the people of the 35th District, or the people of Westchester and New York State. Perez has stated: “I will work hard with everyone across the aisle in order to deliver for our Senate district and our residents… the same way I have been doing on the County Board of Legislators.”
Will Perez join with other renegade Democrats and Republicans to form a majority if elected?
We have been unable to get an answer from Perez to this question, because she has refused any interviews or serious conversations with the media. We also do not agree or subscribe to the belief that Perez’s challenge to Stewart-Cousins is similar to the challenge that Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez made in NYC for Congress earlier this summer.
Stewart-Cousins is the real progressive and a Democrat poised to make history in New York State. That is a good thing for the people of Westchester and for Democrats in the 35th District. We endorse Sen. Stewart-Cousins in the Democratic primary Sept. 13.
The other Democratic primary in Westchester is further north, in the 40th District, where Democrats Robert Kesten and Peter Harckham are squaring off. Kesten, a progressive and indivisible member, has been in the race for some time; Harckham got into the race late this year.
Kesten advocates progressive ideals including single-payer health care (health care
for all in New York) and gun safety legislation, protecting women’s health, and extending
the statute of limitations for victims of sexual abuse.
Harckham has tried to balance himself between what some believe it Kesten’s too-far-to-the-left progressive views, while appealing to the Democratic liberals in the district.
Harckham’s entry into the race was a result of state Democratic leaders, including Cuomo, not wanting Kesten as their candidate to run in the fall against sitting Republican Sen. Terrence Murphy.
But it is not the decision of the governor or any Democratic leader in Albany to make that decision. The Democratic citizens of the 40th District will make that decision Sept. 13, and we endorse Kesten because we believe he is a genuine real candidate who is unafraid to speak his views on the best direction for New York State moving forward.
If you are a Democrat in Westchester, get out and vote Sept. 13.
