Government




The Westchester County Government is headed by County Executive George Latimer, a Democrat. The district attorney is Anthony Scarpino, and the county clerk is Timothy C. Idoni.

Board of Legislatorsedit

The Westchester County Board of Legislators is the legislative branch of Westchester County. Currently, sixteen of them are Democrats, and one is a Conservative who caucuses with the Republicans. The current Chair of the Board is Legislator Benjamin Boykin.

Politicsedit

Presidential election results
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2016 31.2% 131,238 64.9% 272,926 3.9% 16,491
2012 36.8% 143,122 62.0% 240,785 1.2% 4,540
2008 35.8% 147,824 63.4% 261,810 0.8% 3,410
2004 40.3% 159,628 58.1% 229,849 1.6% 6,293
2000 37.5% 139,278 58.6% 218,010 3.9% 14,525
1996 35.9% 123,719 56.9% 196,310 7.2% 24,834
1992 40.1% 151,990 48.7% 184,300 11.2% 42,550
1988 53.4% 197,956 45.8% 169,860 0.9% 3,192
1984 58.7% 229,005 41.1% 160,225 0.3% 1,078
1980 54.4% 198,552 35.6% 130,136 10.0% 36,461
1976 54.3% 208,527 45.1% 173,153 0.7% 2,616
1972 62.8% 262,901 36.9% 154,412 0.3% 1,122
1968 50.3% 201,652 43.4% 173,954 6.3% 25,201
1964 37.9% 149,052 62.0% 243,723 0.1% 460
1960 56.6% 224,562 43.2% 171,410 0.2% 691
1956 72.2% 271,906 27.8% 104,857 0.0% 0
1952 67.4% 237,105 32.2% 113,358 0.4% 1,454
1948 60.9% 177,077 32.9% 95,681 6.1% 17,853
1944 61.7% 174,635 38.0% 107,591 0.3% 756
1940 62.3% 182,883 37.5% 110,114 0.2% 694
1936 51.1% 133,670 47.2% 123,561 1.7% 4,338
1932 51.1% 112,747 45.9% 101,435 3.0% 6,606
1928 56.2% 109,939 41.4% 80,926 2.4% 4,679
1924 63.9% 85,029 23.3% 30,964 12.8% 17,042
1920 68.3% 76,020 25.2% 28,060 6.5% 7,255
1916 59.4% 34,693 38.5% 22,457 2.1% 1,230
1912 29.5% 15,843 39.4% 21,160 31.1% 16,708
1908 58.4% 29,438 36.4% 18,346 5.2% 2,638
1904 55.9% 25,101 40.3% 18,093 3.8% 1,685
1900 54.9% 21,256 42.5% 16,439 2.7% 1,032
1896 59.6% 19,337 36.2% 11,752 4.2% 1,345
1892 43.2% 13,456 51.7% 16,088 5.1% 1,595
1888 46.8% 13,799 50.7% 14,948 2.5% 732
1884 46.1% 11,286 51.1% 12,525 2.8% 683

Westchester County generally leans toward the political left. It last voted for the Republican nominee for president in 1988.

Historically, Westchester County was a classic "Yankee Republican" county. It supported Republican presidential candidates in all but two elections from 1896 to 1988. However, it swung Democratic in the early 1990s—much like other New York City suburbs. In the most recent national elections, Westchester voters tended to be far more Democratic than the national average. In fact, Westchester, after New York City and Albany County, has produced the biggest margins for statewide Democrats in recent years. Democratic voters are mainly concentrated in the more populated southern and central parts of the county. More than 63 percent of Westchester County voters voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential race, the seventh-highest percentage of any New York county.

Currently, all three U.S. congressional representatives from Westchester County are Democrats. Nita Lowey and Eliot Engel represent most of the county. Lowey's district covers most of the county's central and northwestern portions, including White Plains, Chappaqua, and Tarrytown, and reaches into Rockland County. Engel's district is based in the Bronx, but includes most of the southern half of the county, including Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Rye. The northeastern portion of the county is represented by Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney, a former advisor to Bill Clinton, who was elected in 2012, defeating Republican incumbent Nan Hayworth. Maloney's district includes the towns of Bedford, Somers, Pound Ridge, North Salem, Lewisboro, and a portion of North Castle.

However, Republicans remain competitive with Democrats in state and local elections. For instance, it voted for Republican George Pataki, by a margin of 23.07% against Democratic candidate, Carl McCall in the gubernatorial race of 2002, and by 26.22% in 1998. Pataki hails from Westchester; he previously served as mayor of Peekskill and represented part of the county in the state Assembly and state Senate prior to being elected governor.

In 1998, County Executive Andrew Spano became just the second Democrat to hold the post in at least a half-century. In 2006, county legislator Andrea Stewart-Cousins defeated 20-year incumbent Nicholas Spano for a seat in the New York State Senate in a rematch of the 2004 race, which she had lost by only 18 votes. His brother, Assembly Member Mike Spano, switched parties in July 2007 to become a Democrat. District attorney Janet DiFiore also switched parties from Republican to Democrat in August 2007. In 2009, Republican Rob Astorino ousted three-term county executive Andy Spano, who had the endorsement of the New York Conservative Party, winning in a landslide. Astorino became the first Republican county executive since Andrew O'Rourke left the post in 1997. In 2011, the GOP broke the Democratic two-thirds majority in the county legislature by picking up two seats. However, two of the Democrats formed a coalition with the Republicans to control the board, with a Republican becoming vice-chair. In 2017 Democrats gained three seats to take outright control of the board. In 2019 Democrats gained two seats and in 2020 the last remaining Republican switched parties to become a Democrat. The current composition is sixteen Democrats and one Conservative.

Voter registration as of April 1, 2016
Party Active voters Inactive voters Total voters Percentage
Democratic 263,855 26,561 290,416 47.65%
Republican 128,152 12,200 140,352 23.02%
Unaffiliated 129,709 14,297 144,006 23.62%
Othernb 31,460 3,348 34,808 5.71%
Total 553,176 56,406 609,582 100%

Westchester County was the home of U.S. Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, who occupied the Kykuit mansion near the hamlet of Pocantico Hills.

The county is also home to U.S. President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who live in Chappaqua. Former First Lady Barbara Bush grew up in Rye.

Current U.S. President Donald Trump owns a home in Bedford. The 230-acre Seven Springs estate was acquired by Trump in 1996.

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