This year Yonkers voters will be treated to a crowded Yonkers City Council President race. There are seven candidates, and since Yonkers politicians are known for having sharp elbows, the election is sure to be hotly contested. All the candidates have the potential to win the election if they can raise money and get their supporters to the polls for both the June primary and November general election. The Yonkers Ledger will closely cover the campaign to help voters differentiate the positions of the candidates and assess which ones are the most qualified to lead the legislative branch of our City government.
Petitions are a Necessary Step
One of the first tests for the candidates is qualifying for the ballot through the petition process. Under New York State law, candidates are required to collect signatures from registered voters to demonstrate the seriousness and legitimacy of their candidacies.
For this year’s election, the deadline for filing petitions with the Westchester County Board of Elections (BOE) was April 4th. In seeking to run on the Democratic or Republican lines on the ballot, the candidates were required to submit a minimum of 1,000 valid signatures. For the smaller parties, with far fewer registered voters, 94 signatures were required to qualify for the Conservative Party line, and 29 signatures the Working Family Party line.
Gathering the signatures can be an arduous process. Most candidates and their supporters go door-to-door or stand outside public places and solicit signatures. Candidates who have the official backing of the Democratic or Republican Parties have a distinct advantage because the parties have the manpower and expertise in gathering signatures on behalf of their preferred candidates. Candidates who do not have the support of their party are on their own. Some resort to paying canvassers to gather signatures on their behalf.
Petitions Can Be Challenged
With respect to the major parties, according to the BOE, five (5) Democrats and two (2) Republicans submitted petitions for the City Council President race. But this is not the end of the story. Before certifying a candidate’s petitions as valid, the BOE considers any challenges that other candidates, or their proxies, file against their rivals’ petitions. If the BOE ultimately upholds a challenge, the challenged candidate will be found to not have met the signature requirements and will be disqualified from the ballot. (Any disqualification is subject to review in a legal challenge.) Generally, candidates try to submit many more signatures than required to demonstrate their strength as a candidate and withstand challenges to the validity of their signatures.
The Yonkers Ledger reviewed the petition logs from the BOE and reached out to the candidates regarding their petition efforts. Here is what we learned:
Democratic Candidates
Lakisha Collins-Bellamy, a lawyer for the Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonker, is also the current Council President. She is running for re-election with the support of the City’s Democratic Party. She submitted the most signatures of all the candidates, approximately 3,000, and chose not to personally challenge any of the other candidates” petitions. She is preparing to run in a five-way race.
Tasha Diaz, a current Council Member from the 3rd District, filed approximately 2,000 signatures. (Ms. Diaz did not respond to our requests for information regarding her petitions or challenges.)
Michael Khader is a lawyer who previously served as Council President from 2017-2021. He submitted approximately 2,500 signatures. His campaign is challenging Peter Spano’s petitions.
Chuck Lesnick is a lawyer who previously served as the Council President from 2006-2013. He submitted approximately 2,300 signatures from registered Democratic voters and 40 signatures from Working Family Party registered voters. He is not challenging other candidates’ petitions.
Peter Spano, (no relationship to Mayor Mike Spano) is a philanthropist/entrepreneur who previously ran for City Council President in 2021. He submitted approximately 2,000 signatures. He is not personally challenging other candidates’ petitions.
Republican Candidates
Dean Politopolous, a retired Yonkers Police Lieutenant and current law enforcement liaison for Motorola Solutions, filed approximately 2,000 signatures. He is running with the backing of the Republican and Conservative Parties. He is not challenging other petitions.
Ron Schutte, a Catholic high school administrator, who previously ran for the 6th District Council seat, submitted over 1,400 signatures. He he also is not challenging any petitions.
Because of their success in the petitioning process, all seven of these candidates should be considered serious candidates. With so many candidates, the election promises to be a free-for-all, where — given the near certainty of a low voter turnout — almost any candidate could win his or her primary if they can get their supporters to the polls. As a point of reference, in the 2021 Democratic Party primary for City Council President only 8,700 Democrats voted in a three-way race. We anticipate a similarly low turnout of Democratic voters in 2025. Any candidate who can garner 2,500 to 3,000 votes has a legitimate chance of winning. Similarly, in the Republican primary, a low turnout is expected, but since there is only two candidates, it is also likely that 2,500 to 3,000 votes may be enough to win. Of course, a larger than expected turnout, would increase the number of votes required for victory.
Elections 2025
Going forward, the Yonkers Ledger will seek to interview each of the candidates on the ballot. Candidates will be given the opportunity to state their qualifications and describe their vision for the future of our city. We will also ask them to outline their positions on specific important issues such as economic development, affordable housing, and term limits. Current or prior office holders in Yonkers will be asked to defend their records.
