It is official: the people of Westchester have spoken and have reelected Rob Astorino as the County Executive for his second term. Astorino, the New York Native, took 55% of the vote against adversary Noam Bramson. Bramson, the democratic mayor of New Rochelle, conceded the race after about one third of the ballots were accounted tallied.
As of November 6th, Astorino was up 10 percentage points on Bramson, with nearly 80% of the districts casting their ballots. Despite multiple endorsements from former president Bill Clinton, Bramson could not secure a victory. Astorino’s celebration is expected to be short-lived, since the politician is to immediately start working on his plan to cut property taxes. Astorino has stated he will continue to work on his plans for making repairs to Playland amusement park, reinvigorating the town of Rye. He has also stated that he will attempt to get more of Westchester’s citizens back to work.
Some people may be wondering: how could a republican win the county executive race in a predominantly liberal county? The answer is quite simple. Astorino’s promise to lower taxes allowed him to gain support from both red and blue voters. A sea of supporters rallied for Astorino on the night of his re-election. Many Astorino supporters held signs that read, “Westchester can’t afford Noam Bramson,” a slogan that was based on the idea that Bramson would not make the same tax cuts as Astorino. The victory was not easy to achieve, and now there is a great deal of pressure on Astorino to act on his promises.
Election Day 2013 marked a victory for Westchester Republicans. Astorino battled issues about gambling and brushed off volatile names “disastorino.” Bramson will continue to be the Mayor of New Rochelle for at least the next two years, while Astorino will be the County Executive until 2017. Astorino’s prime focuses are to cut taxes, repairs to Playland, and job opportunities. The relatively young Republican leader will officially start his second term on January 1st.
