Killian Snags GOP Nomination in Senate Race; to Face Mayer in April
The race is now set for the 37th state Senate special election after Westchester Republicans nominated former Rye councilwoman Julie Killian at Wednesday night’s mini convention.
Killian, who lost her first bid for the seat in 2016 when defeated by current County Executive George Latimer, outfinished former Yonkers Inspector General Daniel Schorr and Bedford attorney Sarmad Khojasteh.
She will meet Democratic Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer when the special election is held on Tuesday, Apr. 24. The seat has been vacant since Dec. 31. Gov. Andrew Cuomo was not expected to call for the election for this district and other state legislature seats until spring, until after the 2018-19 state budget has been completed.
Killian, who served six years on the Rye City Council, threw her hat into the race earlier this week, nearly three months after Khojasteh and about a month after Schorr. Both of the other candidates vowed to support Killian in a state that the Republicans have targeted for several election cycles.
During her campaign in 2016, Killian said she wanted to have more equitable funding for the district’s school systems, week out corruption, fight for term limits and ease the numerous state mandates that are driving up property taxes for state residents.
Schorr said he had joined the race to fight the corruption and escalating taxes for New York’s residents.
“I felt strongly there was never a more important time to use my unique experience as a prosecutor, fraud investigator, and taxpayer watchdog to represent Westchester’s families,” he said. “While we came up short in the nominating convention, I am proud of the issues we advanced and will continue to be an active voice for reform. I congratulated Julie Killian on securing the nomination and look forward to helping her become our next state senator.”
The winner of the special election will have to run again in November to win a full two-year term.
The 37th state Senate District covers parts of Yonkers, White Plains, the Sound Shore communities, North Castle and Bedford.
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/
