Democrat Shelley Mayer of Yonkers soundly defeated her Republican opponent Julie Killian of Rye in the special election in the New York State Senate’s 37th District April 24. Unofficial results, with about 90 percent of voting districts reporting, showed Mayer with 57 percent of the vote at 26,918 versus Killian’s
19,963 and 43 percent.
Around 10 p.m. at an election night gathering at Molly Spillane’s in Mamaroneck, Mayer told jubilant, wall-to-wall supporters that she had just spoken to her opponent. Mayer was surrounded at the podium by a Who’s Who of County and State Democrats, including Congressman Eliot Engel, County Executive George Latimer, Senate Democratic Conference leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and a large contingent of union representatives. Mayer becomes the 15th woman in the 63-member Senate.
In her remarks, Mayer acknowledged a spirited and hard-fought race and exhorted her supporters, “All of us are part of something bigger, a movement for change, a blue wave rising. Tonight, we rolled across Westchester.” In a phone call, Senator
The crowd quieted down when Senator Chuck Schumer called to congratulate Mayer. But, he quickly fired them up again when he said, “We’re on our way to winning back the Senate and Congress.”
Both parties considered the 37th District to be “in play” and spending was fierce.
The campaign included a constant barrage of mailings on both sides, ranging from highly-partisan to insulting in their accusations.
Democrat Luis Sepulveda easily won the other Senate special election in the Bronx, giving the Democrats, on paper, a 32-31 majority. However, earlier on election day, Brooklyn “Democrat” Simcha Felder, demonstrating Albany math, announced his intention to continue conferencing with Senate Republicans, in effect swinging the majority back to the Republican side.
Westchester Democrats remain on a post-November 2016 roll. They picked up another County Legislature seat on Tuesday, giving them a solid 13-4 majority in the Board of Legislators in addition to Latimer’s County Executive seat. Rye City Democrats swept the last City Council election. Steve Otis and Eliot Engel represent Rye in the Assembly and Congress, respectively.
Mayer must defend the seat in November, perhaps against Killian. During the campaign, Killian told the paper she would run one way or another.
Shelley Mayer, joined at the election night podium by Andrea Stewart-Cousins.
