A decidedly close Democratic primary for three open village of Mamaroneck Board of Trustees seats yielded success for two newcomers and one incumbent, and sunk hopes for fringe candidate and challenger Stuart Tiekert.
According to unofficial Westchester County Board of Elections results, the Sept. 13 race saw all four candidates reel in close to a quarter of the total votes cast.
Political newcomers Keith Waitt and Victor Tafur both secured 27 percent of the total vote, with incumbent Trustee Leon Potok receiving 25 percent and Democratic challenger Tiekert, a former chairman of the village Democratic Party, trailing just behind with 21 percent.
“I’m gratified that the voters heard our message of experience and leadership,” said village Democratic Party Chairwoman Randi Rabinowitz.
Despite only 80 votes separating Potok and Tiekert, Rabinowitz said that the neck-and-neck race was anything but unexpected.
“[Tiekert] and his team did a formidable job of getting the Rye Town voters out,” she said. “But we won the election in Mamaroneck.”
According to preliminary tabulations from the village Democratic Party, while Tiekert—who is currently a district leader in the town of Rye—edged out the three establishment candidates in many of those Rye districts, Waitt, Tafur and Potok swept the vast majority of districts in Mamaroneck.
This marks the first foray into village politics for both Waitt and Tafur, who will now both vie to maintain a Democratic majority on the village board against three Republican candidates running for trustee during the general election in November.
Seats on Mamaroneck’s village board opened after present Democratic trustees Ilissa Miller decided not to run for re-election and David Finch told the Review that he wasn’t asked to run again earlier this year.
Potok will seek re-election in November, marking his third term in office as a village trustee, if elected.
“I’m gratified that the voters supported the decision of the local Democratic nominating committee and I appreciate the hard work of the volunteers for all the candidates,” Potok told the Review.
Despite the intraparty rivalry that comes with a hard-fought primary battle, Rabinowtiz said that the primary also served as an opportunity for trustees to hit the ground running toward the general election.
“It’s not wonderful to compete against each other,” Rabinowitz said, “but our mailers are out, our signs are up, so we have a head start.”
Now, Democrats will join forces with a goal of maintaining their majority rule of the village board which they have held since 2010. Republicans maintained majority board control for only one year since 2006.
Tiekert said he had no expectations for the primary race. “I’m proud of the campaign we ran,” he said, “but I’ve already offered my support to the other [Democrats].”
