Myers Wins County Seat With (Unofficial) 58% of the Vote

by Judy Silberstein with reporting and photography by Joan R. Simon

Click for Unofficial Tallies from Each Voting District

(February 16, 2005) “We did it! We proved that community counts.” Judy Myers told the packed room at Plates, the Larchmont restaurant that was packed elbow to elbow with Democratic office holders and supporters from New Rochelle, Larchmont, Mamaroneck and Rye – and a few diners surprised to find themselves in the middle of a victory celebration.

By the time Ms. Myers showed up at Plates around 9:45 pm, the unofficial vote tally showed her prevailing with 58% of the vote. Approximately 16% of registered voters had turned out for the special election to fill the vacancy in the Westchester County Legislature created when George Latimer was elected to the NY Assembly. (See vote details below.)

GOP candidate Franklin Chu gets vote results, concedes to Judy Myers at Enzo's in Mamaroneck

Ms. Myers’ opponent, Rye City Councilman Franklin Chu, had already called to congratulate her. “I’m disappointed, as I know all of you are,” he told the crowd gathered at Enzo’s restaurant in Mamaroneck. His campaign had stressed “fiscal reform,” and he had positioned himself as a critic of the current county administration and legislature, particularly on financial oversight of the budget and the Westchester Medical Center.

Ms Myers’ emphasis, in the campaign and her acceptance speech, was on cooperating to solve problems and provide services to the community. “ We want to work with the rest of the county to make our community the best it can be,” she told her supporters at Plates. “I believe a community works together – that we help those who need a hand, that we provide open space and education, social services and ample opportunities for all… no matter what their status is in life.”

She will also be working to “hold the line on taxes” and will “fight to lift the burden of the unfunded mandates that are squeezing the very life out of the county budget,” she said.

The community theme was an important element in a campaign whose chief challenge was getting voters to the polls on an unfamiliar date. “Judy’s roots are so deep in this community that everyone wanted to help,” said Alisa Kesten, who co-managed the campaign along with Eileen Songer McCarthy, another New Rochelle resident. Among the helpers were 70 core supporters who each “adopted 20 friends of Judy” in an intensive grass roots effort to make sure the adoptees had the information they needed – and made it to the polls on time.

Through her 16 years of service and leadership in community organizations such as the PTA, United Way and Junior League, Ms. Myers has a large network of friends and acquaintances in each of the communities that make up the district. Even in Rye, the farthest from her home base in Mamaroneck, campaigning was “like going back for an alumnae reunion” with her Junior League colleagues, she said.

Ms. Myers also had an advantage of getting her party behind her candidacy early in the process. Mr. Chu had announced his interest in running, even before Mr. Latimer won the NY Assembly race on November 2 and left his Westchester County legislative seat up for grabs. (See: Who Wants to Replace Latimer?) But the official Republican endorsement did not appear until mid-January (see: (See: Chu Announces), after weeks of rumors about alternate candidates. By then, Ms. Myers’ campaign was up and running, with her first appeals for support appearing in mailboxes as early as December.

Ms. Myers also had a modest advantage with party registrations: Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district by around 4 to 3; however, even the Democrats are slightly outnumbered by voters unaffiliated with either major party.

So what exactly did Ms. Myers win? The short campaign landed her only a short tenure: from now until the end of the calendar year. If she wants a full two-year term, she’ll have to run again in November.

Now There's a Vacancy on the Town Council

Judy Myers’ win is a loss for the Mamaroneck Town Council, where she will leave a vacancy. The win is “bittersweet,” concurred her colleagues, Nancy Seligson and Valerie O’Keeffe. Supervisor O’Keeffe, the only Republican on the board, had just arrived from the Chu gathering at Enzo’s. “I’ll be sorry to see her go,” she said. Councilwoman Seligson said, “I was really campaigning hard for Judy – but it gives me a pang.”

Replacing Ms. Myers on the Town board will probably occur in the next two weeks, according to Councilwoman Phyllis Wittner, who was also celebrating at Plates. In theory anyone may submit a resume and be interviewed; but the likely choice will be another Democrat selected in a vote by the remaining council members, 1 Republican and 3 Democrats.

*Unofficial Results: Overall

*data supplied by the Myers campaign.

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