Latimer to Run for Oppenheimer’s Senate Seat
Looking to keep the seat in Democratic hands with 14-term incumbent Senator Suzi Oppenheimer having already announced her retirement, Assemblyman George Latimer announced on Monday he would be running for the state Senate in the 37th District.
“At the end of the day, I think I bring to this race the best balance between business experience and government experience,” Latimer said. “I understand government and I understand business.”
Latimer cited controlling property taxes, health care, the environment, economic fairness and delivery of government services as key issues in the race.
Latimer, 58, a former Rye councilman and county legislator, has been considered the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination since Oppenheimer announced she wouldn’t seek a 15th term in the Senate. Oppenheimer’s 2010 opponent, New Rochelle businessman Bob Cohen, is the only Republican to enter the race so far, although North Castle Councilwoman Diane DiDonato-Roth and Port Chester Trustee Sam Terenzi are also considering a run. DiDonato-Roth, however, is expected to announce she is running in the upcoming weeks.
The Senate district is heavily Democratic, evidenced by Oppenheimer’s 28-year run, as registered Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 2-1/ (There are 89,892 Democrats and 47,481 Republicans.) Last election, though, was the closest in years, as Cohen lost by just 730 votes out of more than 91,000 ballots cast and a lengthy recount. This year, because of changes in redistricting, the district will add Bedford, parts of Yonkers and Eastchester while losing New Castle, Ossining, Scarsdale and half of White Plains. Overall, the district will become more Republican.
“I start out as the underdog. I’ve got to be scrappy, grassroots,” Latimer said. “I don’t have a job waiting for me at the end of this. I’m risking everything to make this race.”
Latimer stressed his independence, producing a list of instances in which he broke with party leadership or voted with Republicans.
In a statement released Monday afternoon, Cohen spokesman Bill O’Reilly criticized Latimer for voting against recently enacted pension reform, which moved future workers to a Tier VI, and last year’s bill capping property taxes.
“We welcome Mr. Latimer into this race, but find it head-scratching, frankly, that he would bring up property taxes in his announcement,” O’Reilly stated. “Westchester families pay the highest property taxes in America because of what George Latimer did as a county legislator and as an assemblyman.”
Latimer explained that he voted against Tier VI because the bill was presented to him after midnight in the early hours of Thursday morning and he was asked to vote just hours later.
“This is a complicated bill,” he said. “This bill does not deserve to be dealt with in the middle of the night.”
On the property tax cap, Latimer said he voted no because it did not come with significant mandate relief to help schools and municipalities stay within the cap.
Oppenheimer, 77, a Mamaroneck resident and the former mayor of the village, announced on Jan. 12 she would be retiring from the Senate at the end of the year. She said she was scheduled to undergo major shoulder surgery and would be unable to handle the rigors of another hard-fought campaign.
White Plains Democratic Chair Liz Schollenberger said she hoped Latimer would get the nomination without a primary.
“I think George is a fantastic candidate. I would support George,” Schollenberger said. “I think George has a great legislative record in the Assembly as opposed to his opponent [Cohen], who really has nothing but positions to talk about.”
Latimer, who worked for companies including Nestle, AT&T and IBM before being elected to the Assembly, served as a county legislator for 13 years, including four years as its chairman. Prior to that, he spent four years on the city council in Rye, where he currently resides. A Mount Vernon native, Latimer represents Rye, Port Chester, Larchmont, Mamaroneck and parts of New Rochelle and the Sound Shore in the Assembly.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.