This year’s contest to land New York’s 16th Congressional District seat that covers the southern part of Westchester and part of the northern Bronx has turned out to be distinctly different from most other congressional races. What makes it different is that the candidates have been civil toward each other and the airwaves and mailboxes have been lacking hate-filled advertising material designed to tear down the opponent, which is so common on today’s political scene.
The New York 16th CD seat currently is held by Rep. Jamaal Bowman. Westchester County Executive George Latimer defeated Bowman in a heavily fought Democratic Primary for the party’s nomination and is running against Dr. Miriam Flisser, a Scarsdale pediatrician.
Flisser is a 40-year resident of Westchester. She served as the mayor of Scarsdale from 2011 to 2013. She currently is medical director for the Bronxville Union Free School District. Flisser had run on the Republican line against Bowman in 2022 for the District 16 seat but lost with 74,156 votes compared with Bowman’s 133,567.
Latimer started in elective office on the Rye City Council. He became a Westchester County Legislator, then moved to the State Assembly in Albany, into the State Senate and into the county executive’s office where he is finishing the third year of his second four-year term. When Latimer took office, one of his first moves was to propose a two-term limit for county executives, which the County Legislature adopted.
Both Latimer and Flisser have been making traditional retail politics the hallmarks of their campaigns, where they meet as many people as possible and learn first-hand what matters most to them.
“I’m very happy when I meet with folks,” Flisser told the Business Journal. “Many of them have explained to me that they feel their quality of life hasn’t increased and there are many new problems. Zoning is very important for our folks. Issues in schools are very important. Also, crime is a worrisome issue for people. The economy also is important; everybody knows about going to the grocery store or getting gas for the car.”
“I first ran for public office in an era before there was email, before there was social media, before there were digital ads, before there was a host of the tools that you have to campaign with now,” Latimer told the Business Journal. “I have a background in sales and marketing and spent time as a salesman. I want to meet people personally. In a district the size of the county or the size of a Congressional District you cannot ring enough doorbells in the time that’s allotted. So, you go to train stations. I’ve done already 48 train station mornings this year, 38 in the primary, 10 since mid-September. I go to places where people congregate. I go to Chamber of Commerce meetings, Rotary Club, Lions Club, senior centers, community events of all sorts.”
Flisser said that she was motivated to run for Congress out of gratitude to the U.S. and for having had the chance to live the American dream.
“I’m an immigrant to the United States,” Flisser said. “I was born in Europe. My parents were smuggling me out from the Soviet Union hidden under a mail truck. We spent two years in a displaced person camp. I did arrive in America on a U.S. Marine troop ship and I saw the Statue of Liberty for the first time from the deck of a Marine troop ship. I have to tell you that although I was a little girl I’ve never forgotten it. I am the American dream, I tell people all the time.”
Flisser said that she has ideas for improving the government process and efficiency based on her experience in managing local government. She said if she went to Washington she would be against cutting defense spending.
“Right now I think the U.S. has lost its preeminent position as the country that leads the world. I think we’re definitely not in that position right now,” Flisser said.
Latimer said that when he was in the primary he dealt with the national press on a consistent basis for the first time.
“They seemed to have a narrative of what they thought the race was about,” Latimer said. “And then as I’m going out meeting people in all these other ways what I’m hearing is not what the national press is projecting as the reason for the race. The single largest set of issues that I hear about is the affordability of people’s lives, that it costs more for housing, for food, for fuel, for health care, if you have children you’re concerned with child care costs.”
Latimer said that protecting a woman’s right to choose is very high on the list of concerns because it is under a real threat if you have Republicans controlling Washington. He also said that if he wins on Nov. 5, high on his list of issues to be addressed in Washington would be affordability, especially housing, and environmental concerns.
Latimer said that if the voters have decided they want him in Washington and at the appropriate time he resigns as county executive Deputy County Executive Ken Jenkins would be thoroughly prepared to move up.
“We’re trying to wrap up as much as we can,” Latimer said. “We’ve made progress on some union contracts, we’ve got Corrections Officers done, we’re negotiating right now with the police, we have some bond acts for repairs.”
Latimer said that voters send someone to Washington to be their voice and that he has a track record of being the voice of his constituents in local, state and county government.
“Fundamentally, you want to know that the person you send to Washington is thoughtful, is someone you can talk to, is approachable and isn’t living in a cloud someplace where you have to climb a mountain to talk to them,” Latimer said. “You don’t want somebody who’s going down there trying to become a national figure. You want to send somebody who is your voice to the greatest extent possible.”
