Voters in the 37th State Senate District, which includes East Yonkers, Eastchester, Rye, Larchmont, Mamaroneck, Harrison, North Castle and parts of New Rochelle, will go to the polls April 24 to elect their next state senator after the election of George Latimer as county executive last November resulted in a vacant Senate seat and a special election.
Two qualified and dedicated public servants are running to replace Latimer. Democrat Shelley Mayer and Republican Julie Killian have both shown a knowledge of the issues facing Westchester and in Albany. Rising newspapers in Westchester endorses Mayer based on her experience and knowledge of state government, her proven ability to deliver for Yonkers in the Assembly, and her unique capacity to represent and earn the respect from a large cross-section of Westchester voters from all parties.
Mayer has represented the people of Yonkers for the past eight xxxxxx years in the Assembly. Throughout this time, she has been an honest public servant, representing the people of Yonkers by working through the Assembly to deliver additional education aid for the Yonkers Public Schools every year. Mayer works within the leadership of the Assembly to help deliver needed resources for Yonkers, and she will do the same if elected to the Senate.
Mayer has not served in a hyper-partisan manner. In fact she has served while earning the respect of not only Democrats, but Independents and even Republicans, who are collegial with Mayer – a rare occurrence in today’s politics.
After the Blue Wave of Democratic-progressive victories across Westchester last November, Mayer decided to run for State Senate because she said she believed she could represent this group of energized voters based on her years of advocating the same progressive ideals. Over the past three months, she has introduced herself to voters outside of Yonkers, and they have embraced her candidacy, as evidenced by the large number of volunteers who have stepped forward to help her campaign – numbers unseen in any State Senate race before.
Killian’s campaign has not been able to respond in kind with the same number of volunteers or the same level of enthusiasm. In fact, Killian’s campaign, in our view, is void of a viable rationale for winning this election.
The Republican majority in the State Senate that Killian wishes to join and help keep in power has the same problem; what exactly do they stand for? The Republican-led State Senate did take credit for cutting $1 billion in fees and taxes from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s budget plan – that is a good start. But beyond that there is little to point to but Killian’s support for term limits, which is unlikely to ever pass in Albany; and support for the NRA and gun advocates. Killian has attempted to distance herself from the Republican senators on this issue.
Other common-sense issues like elevator safety, halted by the Republican-led Senate because of the powerful real estate industry, will remain blocked in Albany if Killian, and the Republicans, maintain control of the Senate. Killian and the Republican State Senate Committee have used their resources to launch negative attack ads against Mayer, and attempt to link her improperly, in our view, to former State Senate leaders who made their own mistakes in judgement and in personal behavior. Any attempts to link Mayer to these former elected officials, based on the fact that Mayer served at counsel in their offices and followed the proper procedures at the time, is nonsensical. Our interactions with Mayer over the past 10 years find her to have the highest moral and ethical standards, in her personal and professional life.
Two other issues raised by both candidates are important factors in how you should vote. Killian has vowed to lower taxes if elected, but while serving on the Rye City Council she raised property taxes, including voting to blow through the property tax cap on one occasion.
The other issue is education funding for Westchester. Killian wants us to believe that if she is elected she will solve the problem of the underfunding of State Education Aid for Westchester, specifically in Yonkers, where the school district has had to cut sports, art, music and other programs that every other Westchester school district takes for granted.
We believe that Mayer, who if elected would serve with Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, also from Yonkers, would be best able to solve the education funding issue because of her experience and expertise in the budget process based on her years in the Assembly. If Mayer is elected to the Senate, and Stewart-Cousins is named majority leader, then once and for all, the education funding disparities will disappear.
Killian ran against Latimer for this same Senate seat two years ago. We applaud her work to combat opioid and drug abuse in our communities. But she now stands for election against someone who, like Latimer, connects with the voters in a way not usually seen in politics.
Mayer is best qualified to serve the Westchester communities in the 37th District, especially during this time in Westchester, and New York’s history. The voters know her and want Mayer to represent them in Albany and we agree.
We endorse Shelley Mayer for State Senate in the 37th District. The special election is April 24.
