This article was updated on Nov. 5.
Democrat Anant Nambiar coasted to victory over Republican Kurt Van Kuller on Tuesday night to become Westchester’s 7th district representative on the county Board of Legislators.
Returns showed Nambiar, a Larchmont Democrat, with 65 percent of the vote, according to unofficial tallies from the county Board of Elections.
Van Kuller, from Rye, received only 35 percent of the vote.
“I feel so privileged to be the choice and thankful to the voters who voted for me, and the voters who didn’t vote for me, just really happy that they actually took the time to vote,” Nambiar told The Record.
He will now represent a district that includes Rye, Mamaroneck, and Larchmont, as well as parts of Harrison.
Nambiar, 56, will take over in January from outgoing lawmaker Catherine Parker, a Rye Democrat who is stepping down after 12 years after reaching the seat’s term limit. He will resign from his position on the Mamaroneck Town Council, where he has served for two years.
“It’s wonderful and I wouldn’t have been able to be here without the leaders who supported me,” he said. “George Latimer, Ken Jenkins, Catherine [Parker], David Imamura, Shelley [Mayer]. … That was, I think, the single biggest factor that when I met the voters, they said, ‘if those leaders believe in you, who have been our leaders in our community for decades, then we trust that.’”
Born in India and raised in Tanzania and Canada before coming to the U.S. in 1996, Nambiar spent 25 years as an executive in the credit card and payments processing business. He said that he “runs toward problems” — not away from them.
The county legislator-elect said he believes his strengths at listening, questioning, and coming up with creative solutions will serve him well in the county Legislature, as they did during his corporate career.
His name appears on 12 patents related to payment processing and analysis.
Nambiar ran in a legislative district that has become a stronghold for Democrats. Van Kuller, 70, spent 40 years as a municipal finance analyst and touted his financial acumen as something county government could benefit from.
Photo Joy Malone
He wasn’t ready to concede shortly before 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, telling The Record he needed more information to make that decision.
“I am very proud of our message about transparency, balance, fiscal responsibility, and responding to urgent problems — the right priorities,” Van Kuller said, while thanking the many residents he met across the district. “I know that our message resonated and will make a difference.”
By Wednesday morning, van Kuller had announced it was over. In a Facebook post he congratulated Nambiar and called it “regrettable and not my intention” that the tone of the race went sour in the home stretch.
I spoke with Anant this morning and extended my sincere best wishes for his success in serving all of us in the District,” van Kuller wrote. “I enjoyed campaigning against Anant immensely and believe he will be a pre-eminent Legislator.”
What had been a courteous campaign through the summer turned negative, with both candidates filing complaints against each other with the Westchester Fair Campaign Practices Committee.
On Oct. 30, the committee sided with Nambiar, ruling that during an Oct. 22 candidate forum Van Kuller engaged in misleading attacks on Nambiar’s character and misrepresented the Democrat’s campaign.
Van Kuller had called Nambiar a radical and referred to him at one point as “Mr. Mamdani” — a reference to Zohran Mamdani, the newly elected New York City mayor who is a self-described Democratic Socialist.
Democrats attacked Van Kuller after that debate, with Parker — who endorsed Nambiar — calling his conduct “shameful.” Van Kuller did not apologize and said opponents were making too much of “a slip of the tongue.”
The committee, meanwhile, rejected Van Kuller’s allegation that Nambiar had misrepresented his resume by saying he had 15 years of public service experience when he has only served in elected office for five years.
“The committee found that ‘public service’ is a broad term and can mean many things to the general public, including government work, community service, and work with nonprofit organizations,” concluded the Fair Campaign Practices Committee. “In addition to his school board and town board service, Mr. Nambiar has also volunteered in his community and with nonprofit organizations during the period described.”
