Jenkins Officially Announces Bid to Be Next Westchester County Executive
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A week after two-term Westchester County Executive George Latimer easily won the seat for the 16th Congressional District, Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins announced his candidacy to be his successor.
Jenkins, who has served as deputy for the past seven years, said he is hopeful that his role under Latimer and previous 10 years as a county legislator, including time as chairman, will convince the Democratic-dominated Board of Legislators to appoint him following Latimer’s resignation from the seat as the acting county executive. He’s also hopeful the Westchester Democratic Committee will designate him as the candidate for a special election.
“People really like the work that we’ve been doing all together,” Jenkins said. “We’ve been able to emerge through difficult times, whether that’s COVID, whether that’s the migrant crisis, we’ve been able to do that with our partners in (local) government and have the relationship as a regional government, but as a single government working with all of our municipal partners to help get things done.”
Until Latimer submits his notice of resignation, which will be sometime between now and Jan. 3, the process for his successor is frozen. Then, once the resignation is tendered and accepted by the Board of Legislators, the board will appoint the acting county executive as well as set a date for a special election to finish out the balance of Latimer’s term. Jenkins said the Board of Legislators must set the date for the special election within 90 days of the resignation.
For the special election, the political parties will designate their candidate rather than go through a petitioning and primary process.
Jenkins said Latimer has not indicated when he will be resigning, but believes that he wants to finish the work on the county’s 2025 budget. The Board of Legislators is tentatively set to vote on next year’s spending plan on Dec. 9.
Jenkins will also be running for the Democratic nomination for the next full term that begins on Jan. 1, 2026. There is the possibility that if there’s a Democratic primary in June, he would be forced to run in three different elections for the seat in 2025.
He also anticipates Republican competition for both the special election and general election.
“It really is an exciting time on one level, but understanding that we’ve been working and seeing there’s more work for us to do,” Jenkins said. “We’ve done a great job for everyone in the county, Westchester County has done a tremendous job of being able to balance things out, whether that’s making sure that they’re lowering or holding the line on taxes this year, and for the last six years, with the last two (years) holding the line and the previous years, reducing taxes, (ensuring) the rights of citizens in the county and their right to choose whether that’s their own health care, whether we’re working with our municipal partners around the county.”
Although Jenkins must still be designated for the special election, last week many of the county’s biggest names in the Democratic Party stood with him during his announcement. While Latimer was not in attendance, he offered words of praise for Jenkins.
“Ken Jenkins has been an invaluable partner in advancing Westchester County’s progress the past few years,” Latimer said in a statement. “His experience, integrity and commitment to our county make him the ideal leader to take on the role of county executive. Ken understands our residents’ needs and knows how to get things done.”
Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins also threw her support behind Jenkins during last week’s announcement.
“I’ve known Ken for years and I know that he has a deep understanding of Westchester’s needs and a track record of delivering meaningful results,” Stewart-Cousins said. “Ken will make an outstanding county executive, and I’m proud to support him.”
Issues that Jenkins intends to focus on includes keeping property taxes under control, expanding affordable housing, enhancing public transportation, protecting reproductive rights and addressing climate resilience.
“The truth is I’ve been managing and with George working together for the people of Westchester for the last seven years, so I think between that and the work on the Board of Legislators, as we said in our announcement, understanding county government and all of the levers and being able to understand the different constituencies throughout the county, whether that’s Pound Ridge or Peekskill or down south at the tip of the Bronx in Pelham, that’s work that’s happened over the past seven years in the administration, and before that on the county Board of Legislators,” Jenkins said.
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/
