In a battle of neighbors, New York state Sen. George Latimer held on to his 37th District seat after a contentious campaign against Republican Julie Killian.
As polls closed at 9 p.m. on Nov. 8, some Latimer supporters started to trickle into Rosa’s La Scarbitta Ristorante on Halstead Avenue in the village of Mamaroneck, two doors down from Latimer’s campaign headquarters.
race against Julie Killian. Photo/Andrew Dapolite
According to unofficial results from the Westchester County Board of Elections as of press time, Latimer, a Rye Democrat, won with 66,751 or 55 percent of votes to Killian’s 53,975 or 45 percent with 99 percent of districts reporting, as of press time.
For the Latimer, the win continues a streak of 17 consecutive election victories without tasting defeat. But the wins have not always been easy.
“We’ve turned politics into a blood sport; we’ve turned it into a demolition derby, and that’s not what politics is,” he said.
At his headquarters as the first numbers came in, Meg Cameron, chairwoman of the Rye City Democratic Committee, said that she was not surprised at the results. “George’s achievements and long record of service are much greater than Julie’s, even though they’re both well-known and respected in the community,” she said.
However, much of the talk among Democrats on election night was of a Killian television ad accusing Latimer of turning a blind eye to sexual assault in Albany.
Cameron added that she was “very disappointed” at how the campaign played out. “Given this is a ‘hometown’ race, and Rye is kind of a small town, [Killian] ran such an ugly campaign,” Cameron said.
Surrounded by other prominent elected officials representing Westchester, Latimer celebrated another win.
“I had a good feeling, but I know that it was going to be a competitive race,” Latimer, 62, told the Review after declaring victory. “I have great respect for my opponent, and whatever we disagreed on, I never did not respect her skill set as an advocate.”
In Port Chester, Killian, a Rye City councilwoman, held camp at Saltaire Oyster Bar amid a contingent of supporters that remained hopeful well into the night as the numbers started to climb in her opponent’s favor.
Overall Killian said she was pleased with the way her campaign was run and learned a lot over the last eight months. Her advocates stressed the need to bring reform issues to the forefront, most notably a push for term limits on elected officials in Albany. “The fight for term limits, tax and mandate relief, fair school funding, drug abuse education, special needs responsiveness and economic growth will continue,” she said. “I hope that Albany will take up the mantle on these challenges.”
Although Republican Donald Trump followed through with a historic upset, his successful candidacy did little to help Westchester Republicans further down the ballot.
“While President Elect-Trump ran strong across the country, including in parts of upstate New York, Secretary Clinton had a strong showing in Democratic Westchester County, winning almost 65 percent of the vote,” Killian said. “I’m proud to have earned the support of many Democrats, independents and Republicans, performing 12 percent better than the top of the ticket.”
Following the defeat, speculation is sure to ensue whether Killian, 56, will consider running for the seat again in two years.
Latimer stressed that the Senate seat is not a “blank check” given to him. “It’s a promissory note that I have given to the voters,” he said. “I now have to produce along the lines that I said in discussions and debates. The burden is on me to prove that I’ve meant everything I’ve said, and I intend to execute.”
Standing on a wooden chair in the small but intimate gathering at Rosa’s, Latimer thanked his supporters amid applause and chants of his name.
“When you win [a political campaign], the work begins. And we have plenty of work in the state of New York,” he said.
The soon-to-be, three-term senator talked about the need for reform, getting education policy focused locally, stronger environmental protections and dealing with the high property tax burden as just some of what needs to be done.
“The only way you can judge us is how well we fight for those issues,” he said.
