Westchester County Executive Race Begins to Take Shape
As Westchester democratic district leaders meet in their various committees to decide which of three candidates will face incumbent republican Robert Astorino for the county executive seat, Bill Ryan’s campaign received a significant boost last week when the White Plains Democratic City Committee put 85 percent of their support behind their local candidate.
The three democratic candidates: Bill Ryan, White Plains, received 4,801 votes (85 percent); Noam Bramson, New Rochelle, received 718 votes (13 percent); and Ken Jenkins, Yonkers, received 116 votes (2 percent).
The balloting took place after each of the candidates presented their case to the White Plains district leaders and answered questions about major issues relating to the campaign.
At a convention on April 24, the Westchester democrats will nominate one of the three as their candidate to face Astorino.
Early in the campaign, the three-way split was considered a weakness in the Democratic Party line. However current indications are the party will throw its full weight behind one candidate.
In addressing the White Plains committee, Ryan said: “This will be a tough election. As Westchester Democrats we have an important job to do. We need to pick the candidate who can beat Astorino in November. There’s a lot at stake.”
Saying that the County Executive “doesn’t give a damn,” Ryan spoke about “the republicans who raced to put a 2013 County budget in place that continues the assault on our people with the elimination of millions of dollars in social safety net programs.”
Ryan also spoke about a weakening county infrastructure and continued cuts to essential services. “The case for Astorino’s re-election,” Ryan said, “is that he hasn’t raised property taxes. But he has raided our reserves and borrowed money long-term to pay for the current year’s expenses. “Over his three budgets, that’s $93 million dollars, plus interest on the debt; the equivalent of a 19 percent property tax hike,” Ryan contends.
Interestingly, on Friday, Kurt Colucci, a Tea party conservative announced that he will challenge Astorino for the Conservative Party endorsement. Called an “upstart” by some, Colucci claims Astorino has economically enslaved Westchester residents by borrowing to ensure a zero property tax hike rather than by making significant spending cuts.
