Harckham Apparent Winner in District 2
Democratic Majority Leader Peter Harckham (D-Katonah) is the apparent winner in the race for District 2 on the county Board of Legislators, although Republican challenger Peter Michaelis has yet to concede.
As of early Wednesday afternoon, Harckham was leading by 490 votes (3,741-3,251) with 80 percent of the votes tallied, according to latest numbers from the Westchester County Board of Elections. However, Harckham issued a statement shortly after 1 p.m. that he was up by 980 votes with about 1,485 still to be tallied.
“Although not all of the votes have yet been tallied due to machine malfunctions, it appears that I have an insurmountable lead that will hold up when the final votes are counted,” Harckham said in his statement. “I am humbled by this strong show of confidence from the voters and I look forward to serving the people of northern Westchester for another two years.”
If the results hold up, it would be the second time in four years that Harckham defeated Michaelis. In 2007, Harckham won comfortably by about 500 votes to win his first term. He was unopposed in 2009.
While Harckham’s lead appears safe, the Democratic supermajority hangs in the balance in District 3 where two-term Democratic incumbent and former Pleasantville Mayor John Nonna was clinging to a 60-vote lead over Republican challenger Michael Smith with 87 percent of the votes counted.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/