First Lady Dr. Jill Biden with Governor Kathy Hochul
By Dan Murphy
Voters in Yonkers will play a big role in electing our next Governor, Attorney General, Congressmember and more on Nov. 8. As the 3rd largest populated City in New York State, Governor Kathy Hochul and Congressman Lee Zedlin are asking for your votes. Attorney General Letitia James in also in a close contest with republican Michael Henry.
The big Assembly race in Yonkers is between Assemblyman Nader Sayegh and Councilman Mike Breen. We have endorsed Sayegh. A Yonkers native, Joe Pinion, is running for U.S. Senate, against Democratic US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.
State Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Senator Shelley Mayer also have opponents but are expected to win their reelections, over Khris Kerr and Frank Murtha
Congressman Jamaal Bowman is also expected to win reelection over Dr. Miriam flisser. You have a choice, so Get out and vote!
In Westchester, voters usually do not get to play a major role in the outcome of our country’s national elections, and even in most recent statewide elections, the outcome is already a forgone conclusion. But this year is different in New York State, as Westchester’s voters will have a say in electing a member of Congress, our next Governor, and more on Nov. 8.
The race for Governor is at the top of the ballot when you cast your vote. Kathy Hochul is running for Governor for the first time, after replacing Andrew Cuomo last year. Her republican challenger is Long Island Congressman Lee Zeldin. With Hochul expected to win New York City by a large margin, and Zeldin expected to win upstate and Long Island, Westchester County could tip the balance to either Gubernatorial hopeful.
And with our state and nation so deeply divided, the 10% of independent candidates left will certainly elect our next govenor. And the leading voices of both the democratic and republican parties have come out to support Hochul and Zeldin, stressing both the importance of the race, and the narrow lead that Hochul has in the polls.
The issue of crime has become front and center in the race for Governor. But in Westchester, crime rates are down, and in Westchester’s largest City, Yonkers, crime is also under control. We all see the videos on the TV news and on Social Media, but if Westchester is safe, will the majority of voters here cast their vote based on crime?
Some polling has also suggested that some of the other statewide races, for Attorney General, and US Senate, are close enough that a Red Wave could help the republican candidates.
Another major contest in Westchester is the race for Congress in the 17th District, between Congressman Sean Patrick-Maloney and his republican challenger Mike Lawler. The district also includes Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess counties, which benefits Lawler, an Assemblyman from Rockland.
Rep. Maloney is also Chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, DCCC, so republicans are spending millions trying to defeat him, and democrats are spending the same trying to keep him in Congress.
Only a few other election contests are considered to be competitive. While we congratulate the Westchester GOP, and Chairman Doug Colety, for ‘filling its dance card’ with candidates, most of those candidates did not run an active campaign.We realize the difficulty in raising the funds to run a campaign to challenge those democratic incumbents in Westchester that voters are familiar with and have voted for, for decades.
One GOP candidate that has been active has been Gina Arena, running for State Senate in the 40th District against Sen. Peter Harckham. Arena has sent us press releases and is running in a district that was represented recently by a republican. If there is a Red Wave, Arena could ride it to Albany.
Democratic voters are hoping that abortion and former President Trump are the formative issues, while republicans are running on infation and crime.
Make your voice heard and get out and vote!
