Republicans appear to have held onto the county Board of Legislators”™ District 10 seat, with unofficial numbers showing incumbent Sheila Marcotte ahead of Democratic challenger Mary Jo Jacobs by 435 votes.
The board had a 10 Democrat/seven Republican split going into elections Tuesday. Marcotte”™s victory, pending official results, means that split will remain intact in 2014.
The victory can signify a power shift on the board. Two Democratic legislators re-elected Tuesday, Michael Kaplowitz and Virginia Perez, broke from the majority during a budget vote in 2012 to form a coalition with the Republican minority. Republican insiders have been receptive to a coalition majority that would see Kaplowitz as the new chairman of the board over current Chairman Ken Jenkins.
District 10 includes parts of Eastchester, Tuckahoe and New Rochelle. It was the only seat of 17 that remained too close to call by the end of Wednesday. It had been a district weighed in favor of a Democratic candidate due to the chunk of New Rochelle contained within it. But Marcotte now seems to have won election there three times ”“ in a special election in 2010 and a tight race in 2011 in which she won by several dozen votes.
Marcotte, a former Eastchester town councilwoman, had the backing of the Eastchester Republican Town Committee, one of the most reliable bastions of GOP strength in an increasingly Blue county.
With Marcotte’s win, all 15 board incumbents who sought election won re-election Tuesday.
