Is County Clerk Candidate Robert Morabito Working in County Government?

The strangest race so far in Westchester may be the race for County Clerk. Initially thought to be a quiet race in which incumbent CC Tim Idoni wins re-election has turned into a bit of a race.

Former Rye Supervisor Robert Morabito, a Democrat, received the endorsement of the West GOP. Morabito has also circulated petitions to run in a Demcoratic Primary against Idoni.

Something that we have heard and are working on is a claim that Morabito has a county job, given to him by Andy Spano?  If true, why would Andy be supporting someone who is challenging Idoni?

Help with any info please

Another Year in Westchester Politics-The Gloves Come Off

It looks like we will have another eventful election in Westchester this year, and the gloves are off with wild punches being thrown early in the political season.

The big three county wide races are competitive, with legitimate challengers for County Executive, District Attorney and County Clerk.

The DA’s race has gotten hot early because of an important Democratic Primary in September between DA Janet DiFiore and Tony Castro.

Castro started things off this week by holding a press conference to announce that he had gotten 14,073 Democratic Signatures, more than 7 times the required 2,000 signatures.

“There is only one lifelong Democrat in this race, there is only one candidate who isn’t beholden to party powerbrokers and there is only one candidate who will fight for equal justice for all Westchester residents – and that candidate is yours truly, Tony Castro,” said Castro.

DiFiore campaign spokesperson Tracey Everson pointed out that “Mr. Castro’s campaign finance report reveals significant expenditure for wages during the petition period, suggesting that he needed to pay petition carriers in order to qualify for the ballot.”

Responding to comments made by Sam Rivers, a Democrat running for Mt. Vernon City Council, the DA herself made her first public comments about Castro and his associations. “

Sam Zherka walked Tony Castro into the Board of Elections to file Castro’s petitions for District Attorney, the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the county. Anyone who wants to be District Attorney should have better sense then to be led around by a strip club owner who is under investigation,” said DiFiore.

Zherka, the publisher of the Westchester Guardian, has admitted that he is a target of a Manhattan DA probe, and has interjected himself into Westchester politics in a big way through his paper, and his support of Rethinking County Government.

Zherka has taken a special interest in the DA’s race and is a big supporter of Castro’s-though no records of contributions coming from Zherka in Castro’s latest filing, which shows $9k on hand compared to $430k for DiFiore.

Zherka’s association with Castro has been talked about on the blogs as an issue that DiFiore will highlight in the campaign, and she did it publicly for the first time in her statement above.

It’s on

 

 

 

 

DiFiore statement on Rivers

Lesnick Raises 69k with 50k on Hand

Chuck Lesnick

 

Here’s a BOE financials update for Yonkers

Council President Chuck Lensick raised $69,494 in the first 6 months of 2009, and has $50, 716 on hand.  These numbers are more than twice the amounts raised by Lesnick’s opponent, Republican Jim Castro-Blanco, who raised $38k and has $27k on hand.

So a small victory for Lesnick, and to those who say that Chuck rolled over 29k from his previous fund raising–who cares, its money that will be used in this race.

Lesnick is a great fund raiser, with a big event planned in Manhattan later this summer and you should expect Nita Lowey and New York’s 2 US Senators, Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, to be helping Chuck along the way.

Castro-Blanco, who vowed to raise $800,000 for this race, will also be raising funds heavy.

This is a $500k race folks, a lot of dialing for dollars to come. 

Lesnick did what he had to do with this first filing, double up CB $$$

Other council financials:

Democrat Virginia Perez-2nd council race-raised $15,009 and has $7,380 on hand. A decent showing.

Democrat Ted Winnicki-6th d council race- raised 10,293.32 and has 9,432 on hand

No financials posted for Mario DeGiorgio 4th D, Wilson Tererro 2nd D, and Jose Alvarado county board 17th D.

Annabi Gets 2,000 Signatures for County Board Run

City Councilwoman Sandy Annabi, who is running for the County Board seat in the 17^th District of Southwest Yonkers, collected 2,000 signatures on petitions nominating her to run against fellow Democrat and incumbent County Legislator Jose Alvarado.

As Annabi points out in her release below, the fact that she collected 2,000 without the support of the Yonkers Democratic Party, (who endorsed Alvarado), is impressive.

The Annabi-Alvarado Democratic Primary in September will be a competitive race, with Annabi working off of her name recognition and connections with the voters gained over her years representing the 2^nd council district, which is included in the 17^th county board district, and Alvarado working his ties in the district, his support from Yonkers Dems and County Dems if needed, and the fact that Alvarado is a Latino in a majority Latino district.

Still waiting on financials from Alvarado and from Virginia Perez, running for Annabi’s council seat and working with Annabi in southwest Yonkers, collecting signatures and strategizing together.

I have said before that the Annabi-Perez team should not be underestimated, and I repeat it-with the belief by many Yonkers politicos that Alvarado and Wilson Tererro council candidate 2^nd d, will be victorious.

Perez could be running in a Democratic primary for the council 2^nd against 3-4 other candidates, all males, and could win a 4-way or 5-way primary.

 

Annabi’s statement:

The campaign to elect Sandy Annabi to County Legislator, District 17, proudly announce a significant first milestone in the race for County Legislator for the 17th District. The Annabi campaign is filing today with the Westchester County Board of Elections close to four times the required amount of signatures (approximately 2,000) from registered Democratic voters. Annabi was able to obtain these signatures without the help of party bosses and political hacks.

Annabi, the current Majority Leader for the Yonkers City Council, called the large number of petitions “an overwhelming expression of support from the residents of the 17th Legislative District. The people of southwest Yonkers have recognized my hard work on their behalf for the past eight years. They approve of my work and want me to continue to be their fierce advocate, representing them in County government.”

Annabi thanks the residents and the campaign volunteers for their support. “I look forward to a spirited campaign and a victory in September,” concluded Annabi.