Latimer Ready for Congress After a Career Fighting for Westchester

Public service has always been about helping others and the community where you live for George Latimer.

Over 37 years, 18 general elections and five primaries – and winning every single of those contests – there is no quit in the 71-year-old longtime Rye resident.

At an age when most of his peers have already retired or are in the midst of winding down their careers or heading to the office exit for the final time, Latimer is embarking on perhaps his greatest challenge: as a freshman congressman representing the 16^th Congressional District in the House of Representatives at a time when the country is more divided than it has been in decades.

He will be sworn in at noon on Friday, 24 hours after he officially resigns as Westchester County executive, with his congressional colleagues from around the nation.

“What keeps me going is the belief that somehow you’ve done something good,” Latimer said recently during an interview. “It’s simple, it’s very simple. Some kid is on a bus and goes to Willson Woods Pool like I did, only he goes on a bus because it’s free and he goes to Willson Woods Pool, which was fixed. That’s what motivates me. You see results that make you feel like it’s worth it.”

Latimer, a Democrat, will have his hands full not only as member of the minority party in the House, albeit by a razor-thin five-seat margin, but knowing that he almost certainly won’t be there for decades. He also heads to his new position in a political environment where there aren’t only the obvious differences between Republicans and Democrats, but factions within each party that can almost be equally pronounced.

He must find a way to effectively represent his constituents.

“I’m in the minority. I’m a freshman and I’m an older freshman, and what does that mean?” Latimer pondered. “It means some people will look at you and say, ‘He’s not going to be here 30 years. He’s not going to be a committee chair. What do I have to care about what he thinks? He’s probably gone within 10 years.’

“I don’t walk in the door with those obvious advantages. I do walk in the door with a lot of experience in government,” said Latimer, who before becoming county executive started as a Rye city councilman before advancing to county legislator, including a stint as chair of the Board of Legislators, then assemblyman and state senator. “Now, not the federal government. I have to learn that from Day One.”

But Latimer has no plans to change what has worked for him throughout his nearly four-decade political career – fiercely advocate for the people and the issues he believes in and seek common ground, when possible, with others who he may disagree with more often than not. He said he looks forward to working with Republican Congressman Mike Lawler from the 17^th Congressional District to the north and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the 14^th Congressional District, which borders the portion of his district that extends southward into the Bronx, and others from around the country.

Latimer’s also aware that the first 17 days may just be a warmup until the second Donald Trump presidency begins on Jan. 20.

“I walk in the door it’s a clean slate as far as I’m concerned,” Latimer said. “It’s the actions he takes in the weeks to come after Jan. 20 that’ll determine the situation. Day One, a new administration, clean slate, let’s see what you do.”

He is prepared to battle President Trump if he tries to deport 12 million people or abolish the Department of Education or cut $2 trillion from the national budget, which would almost certainly negatively impact Social Security.

During the campaign, Latimer said when he met and spoke with district residents, certainly migrants was one of the handful of issues concerning voters. But so was the economy, a woman’s right to choose and environmental concerns, among others, he said.

“But I don’t walk into this seat saying I’m going after (Trump) for every single thing he does,” Latimer said. “When he takes an action, if he puts tariffs on Canada, I’m going to point out I think it’s a wrong idea. Tariffs increase the cost of goods. Canada is our number one trading partner in the world.”

If anyone can navigate the political chasm in Washington, it would be Latimer, said County Legislator Margaret Cunzio (C-Mount Pleasant), who has served and worked with him since he was a state senator when their districts overlapped.

Cunzio said she’s happy that he’s moving on to Congress, although it will be a loss for Westchester. What made Latimer so effective was his overriding mission, she said.

“Even though we weren’t, quote, unquote, in the same political party, we really had the same desire to help people,” said Cunzio, currently one of only two non-Democrats on the Board of Legislators. “It wasn’t about the politics with George, it was really about doing good for the community and for the people.”

Board Chair Vedat Gashi (D-Yorktown) said Latimer’s communications skills and his ability to speak to anyone, his work ethic and his command of the issues that has set him apart.

“He’s always been good about bringing others in and sharing the spotlight, and bringing in others for their opinion and working in a collaborative fashion,” Gashi said. “I think as chair I’ve seen that more, and for me, he’s been a fantastic resource.”

Latimer attributes some of his electoral success to being able to connect with others, a talent likely honed with his original career in marketing and sales that continued into his 40s.

While the nature of campaigning has changed since he first ran in 1987 for Rye City Council, Latimer makes sure to meet people face to face as much as possible. It’s a skill set that he enjoys and has worked for him.

“I started campaigning in an era before there was an internet, before there was e-mail, certainly before there was social media,” he explained. “That came much more naturally, and the way to campaign in these days, you have direct mail, you didn’t have much of a cable TV infrastructure.

“So what you had was the ability to knock on doors and meet people in front of the supermarket, at senior citizens’ meetings and train stations in the morning. All of these retail things, that is what you had to do to be successful.”

Regardless of the elected office or the changing political strategies through the generations, for Latimer public service always comes back to helping improve people’s lives. His proudest moment in the past seven years was the day when he stood on at the newly-refurbished Memorial Field in Mount Vernon, his home community growing up and where he graduated high school after years of inaction led to the facility’s decay.

The darkest moment were the 100 deaths in the county over two consecutive nights during the worst of the COVD-19 pandemic.

Along the way, there were many other achievements, such as the renovation of Miller House/Washington’s Headquarters and the Sprain Ridge pools, fixing the North and South County Trailways and securing a future for Playland.

Latimer almost scoffs at the notion about any potential legacy. In a few generations he’ll be as well-known as Westchester’s first few county executives are today, he said. But it’s about you can help people today and leave to others.

“I got a chance to be county executive for seven years,” Latimer said. “I made some mistakes, but basically, we did a good job. We did good things and that’s what it was about.”