The nine-day early voting period in Westchester and elsewhere for the 2025 elections came to an end yesterday Nov. 2 as voters and candidates alike were gearing up for election day itself on Nov. 4.
In addition to selecting a county executive, Westchester voters will decide county-wide contests including selecting four judges from the 12 running for the State Supreme Court 9th Judicial District, and the office of county clerk. Members of the County Board of Legislators will be selected in various districts around the county. There will be numerous local contests for mayors, supervisors, council seats, receivers of taxes, highway supervisors and other offices.
Incumbent Ken Jenkins is facing Republican Christine Sculti for county executive. Sculti received an endorsement from Rupert Murdoch’s conservative newspaper the New York Post. Sculti was defeated in February when she ran against Jenkins in a contest to fill out the remaining term of former County Executive George Latimer, who resigned after being elected to Congress. In her campaign, she has emphasized a need for government fiscal responsibility.
Jenkins has based his campaign on a pledge to continue holding down county property taxes, promoting affordable housing, making communities safer, decreasing Westchester’s carbon footprint, and ensuring access to quality health care including women’s reproductive rights.
White Plains Mayor Tom Roach is running for county clerk against Republican Sheila Marcotte, an Eastchester councilwoman. They’re seeking to succeed Westchester County Clerk Tim Idoni, who is retiring from the post.
In addition to those contests in which they can cast votes, Westchester residents like others in the New York Metro area and around the country will be looking at what happens in the New York City mayoral contest.
Mayoral races in New York don’t usually have national implications, but that changed when in a Democratic primary Zohran Mamdani went from 1% in the polls to knocking off former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo who was attempting to make a political comeback. Now Mamdani is running on the Democratic ticket against Cuomo who is running as an independent and Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa.
A poll released Nov. 3 by Newsweek showed that Mamdani was leading Cuomo by more than 14 points. More than 750,000 people had cast ballots in early voting in New York City, setting a record. Donald Trump warned that federal funding for New York City is at risk if Mamdani wins. President Trump has called Mamdani a communist. Mamdani, who is 34 years old, is a Muslim and was born in Uganda. He became a U.S. citizen in 2018.
In Rockland, County Executive Ed Day is seeking a fourth term. The Democratic Party did not field a candidate to oppose him. However, a former member of the county’s Planning board, Mike Parietti, is running against Day as an independent. In 2021, Day received more than 70% of the vote.
