Democratic Party-endorsed Candidates Win White Plains Common Council Primary
Three Democratic Common Council candidates defeated a non-endorsed challenger in the June 25 primary.
According to unofficial results from the Westchester County Board of Elections, with all districts having reported in, incumbent Councilwoman Nadine Hunt-Robinson received 2,010 votes (29 percent); Victoria Presser received 1,834 votes (27 percent); Jennifer Puja received 1,827 votes (27 percent) and Kat Brezler, who was not endorsed by the Democratic Party, received 1,223 votes (18 percent).
Brezler will be on the November general election ballot as one of the candidates endorsed by the White Plains Working Families Party.
The endorsed Democrats celebrated their victory at Vintage Lounge & Restaurant.
Hunt-Robinson led those in attendance who joined her in saying, “When Democrats vote, Democrats win. When Democrats vote, Democrats win. When Democrats vote, Democrats win.”
“Thank you for what you have done,” Hunt-Robinson told the attendees. “You did it. You worked with us. I want to thank all the members of the White Plains Democratic Committee, all the members of labor, all the members who are not even here.” She thanked members of the party who got out the vote earlier in the day.
“Be proud of your party. There is nothing, nothing in White Plains for us to be ashamed of. And I am disappointed in people who will play politics of bashing our city for personal gain. And today you proved them wrong,” Hunt-Robinson said.
Presser also thanked her supporters. “I would have to start with a quote from Grampa Abe. ‘Darling, the Democrats are the party of the people.’ I learned that when I was very young,” Presser said. “And I am so overwhelmed to know that I could take that education that I got early and bring it here to White Plans and to work with such extraordinary running mates.”
Puja said, “There’s a first for everything. This is the first time the primary has ever been in June. This was the first time I’ve ever run for office, ever. I’m overwhelmed and I’m proud of the people powered, grass roots, positive campaign that we’ve all run.”
“There was a unifying message,” Puja said. “We all care about the City of White Plains and so do the three of us.”
Among those Puja thanked was the White Plains Democratic City Committee. “You have proven that when people talk about the establishment and the machine that’s running this city it’s all rhetoric. You’re all hard working. You have all made a difference and all care about democracy and about this city. And that’s what should stand out apart from this race and any other that comes forward.”
Brezler reacted to her defeat on June 26.
“I’m proud of our team and the race we ran,” Brezler said. “Voting shouldn’t be this hard. Getting on the ballot shouldn’t be this difficult. ‘Inaccessible buildings’ disenfranchise voters because the only way they can be accessed is by an expensive mailing strategy. We were out spent. Still our grassroots machine made choice possible and I’m proud of each and every person that participated in this election. Our democracy is out of shape. It’s always a good choice to exercise it.”
This is an updated version of the story originally posted.
