Politics & Government

Campaign Questions Raised Close to the Wire

As election day approaches, candidates in several races hash out their disputes before a League of Women Voters arbitration panel.

With only days before voters cast their ballot, disputes between political parties over candidates’ campaign practices churn across both the District 6 and 7, County Legislature races.

Candidates in both the District 6 and 7 County Legislature races have kept the Westchester County Fair Campaigns Committee busy.  The body, established in 1991 by the League of Women Voters of Westchester, provides non-binding arbritration

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Last Wednesday, the committee upheld one complaint and waived off another from  Daniel Brakewood about the campaign claims of opponent David Gelfarb. The committee found that Gelfarb’s characterization that Rye Town spending had been reducing by more than $1 million was fair. However, the committee agreed that Gelfarb’s literature suggested the candidate had single-handedly achieved actions the Rye Town Council made collectively such as reducing taxes and increasing the town’s fund balance.

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On Saturday, the committee arbitrated a compliant filed by incumbent Judy Myers against opponent Suzanna Keith and the Friends of Suzanne Keith campaign group. In the attached decision, the Fair Campaigns committee upheld deemed Keith’s characterization of Myers’ 247 veto votes as “against the interests of Westchester taxpayers” as within bounds because such an interpretation was a matter of opinion. The committee did uphold Myers’ claim that Keith’s assertion that “most county mayors opposed” a settlement referred to in her campaign literature was false. Keith could provide the statements of only four of 29 mayors to substantiate her claim. The committee did not decide on either side’s favor regarding a characterization Keith made in campaign letter referring to Myers’ position on a specific housing implementation plan because no vote has been taken documenting Myers position.

At a prior hearing the committee sided with the Keith campaign over an October 26 email sent by the Myers campaign to Supporters of the Westchester Children’s Museum that in their decision unfairly suggested candidate Keith did not support the Museum, public parks or county funding for childrens’ educational programs.


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