Smith-Torres and Walter-Nolan Still Two BOL Races to Watch; Is Trump Factor Wearing Off?
By Dan Murphy
By Dan Murphy
One Westchester democrat told us that while campaigning and knocking on doors for a competitive County Board race, most voters who answered, “didn’t even know there was an election.”
In fact, both parties fear low turnout and are working to invigorate their base to get out and vote, either by absentee ballot, early voting, or on Nov. 2.
If turnout is low in democrat heavy parts of the county like Yonkers and Mt. Vernon, then democrats are concerned that their overall numbers might be lower than the landslide that many predict for County Executive George Latimer in his re-election bid.
But in Yonkers, voters have a reason to come out, with a Citywide Council Presidents race, two City Council races, and one highly competitive County Board race, between Democrat Legislator Ruth Walter and Republican James Nolan.
Both democrats and republicans we spoke to still identify the Walter-Nolan BOL race as the #1 most competitive. #2 on both lists is the BOL contest in district #1 (Peekskill, Cortland, Yorktown) between democrat Legislator Colin Smith and republican challenger Joe Torres. Torres is a former Peekskill Councilman and is running an active campaign.
The County Board race between democratic legislator Ruth Walter and republican challenger James Nolan, in the 15th District, (Bronxville and East Yonkers) continues to take a wild ride. Nolan has been campaigning actively, with his signs and his campaign van seen all over the district. At a recent debate, Nolan said that he and his campaign team have knocked on 25,000 doors.
Last month Nolan told Yonkers Rising that he was not vaccinated, and since that conversation, and our article from Sept. 9, there has been no public statement from Nolan that he has since been vaccinated.
Legislator Ruth Walter, called Nolan’s decision, “A failure of leadership. If you want to be a leader, part of your job is to remind people that the vaccine is safe and effective. You want to support the nurses and health care workers by reducing the number of sick patients. That is the role of the county, in making our vaccination races high enough to open our schools. We want to people to know it’s safe, and he chose the opposite. Being a public figure and being a candidate is not the same as what you chose to do.”
Democrats told us, “Districts #1 and #15 could get away if turnout is low. But we could sweep all 17 seats if turnout is high.” Torres, a former Peekskill City Councilman, has impressed with his challenge to Smith. Put him on your GOP list of good, experienced candidates.
A Sound Shore democrat told us the he believed that “The Trump factor is starting to wear off. Many democrats are not as enthusiastic about going out to vote against Trump in an off-year election. They did it in 2017, but I’m not so sure about 2021.” He also said sarcastically, “Plus republicans aren’t running a candidate for County Executive,” meaning that the republican candidate for County Executive, has rarely been seen south of Interstate 287.
We don’t see it that way. One Westchester elected official told us, “Sculti is campaigning in the communities where she stands a chance at beating Latimer. She is in Bedford with Gina Arena, in Yorktown with Matt Slater, in Mt. Pleasant with Rob Astorino, and in Eastchester with Tony Colavita. She may be clever in campaigning only in those communities in the hope that turnout everywhere else is low.”
Many of the old prognosticators in Westchester politics recently chimed in for a LoHud story on the race. While interesting, those quoted are hoping that the county will return to a time when republican candidates stood a chance for county wide office.
Those days are gone, and the republican political ice cube has melted down to Harrison, Eastchester, Yorktown and East Yonkers.
And for whatever reason, Sculti decided not to debate, as did the republican candidate for County Clerk, Scooter Scott. Most disagree with the decision, and belief that if a challenger doesn’t debate there is no real campaign.
One of Westchester Journalistic ‘Deans’ Phil Reisman, called Sculti a “stand in” type candidate for county executive. And we were crtical at first of Sculti’s decision not to debate. But upon further review, the chances of Sculti scoring a knockout of Latimer, who has been through hundreds of debates, was astronomical. And, obviously, she just didn’t feel comfortable doing it.
We see Sculti campaigning in northern Westchester, and she will also get support from the SOS crowd, (Save Our Schools) in N. Westchester, who support her view and the view of her mother concerning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion education in the schools.
For those complaining about having a more active race for County Executive, and a more active republican candidate for County Executive, we disagree. All of the several, prominent Westchester republicans all passed on challenging Latimer. Don’t blame Sculti for that. In fact, congratulations to Sculti for picking up the flag of her party and running!
Another democrat told us that, “Independents will determine whether it’s a blowout or closer than you think.” That same democrat thought that not a lot of voters in the 15th BOL District, (East Yonkers and Bronxville) knew that the republican candidate James Nolan was not vaccinated. “Ruth should make a big deal about that. It’s a 70%-30% issue for her. People want their leaders vaccinated and lead by example.”
Yonkers democrats have a great Council President candidate in Lakisha Collins-Bellamy. She has a great life story and her future is bright. Collins-Bellamy predicted that her opponent, republican Ron Matten, wouldn’t get 35% of the vote.
In 2017, just four years ago, Rob Astorino was County Executive and a bi-partisan coalition of republicans and democrats held a majority on the county board.
But four years is a lifetime in politics!
