Eight Weeks Until Election Day: More Distractions in CE Race

By Dan Murphy Endorsements are commonplace in politics and are usually forgotten shortly after the endorsement for a candidate is made. The key for candidates is to get an unusual or unanticipated endorsement to make news and get headlines. Many endorsements have been made in the race for Westchester county executive between incumbent Republican Rob Astorino and Democratic challenger New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson, with Astorino getting attention from several Democrats who have stepped forward and crossed party lines to endorse him, while Bramson has collected the more typical Democratic endorsements from pro-choice abortion groups and this week from the Westchester-Putnam Central Labor Body.

But Astorinos most recent endorsement from Democrats for Astorino, from New Rochelle NAACP President Ron Williams, had a longer press life and became more of a story (or distraction) because of Astorinos and Williamss removal from a New Rochelle park. Witnesses to the Sept. 5 event, including a reporter for WVOX radio, state that an employee from the New Rochelle Parks Department asked the small group, including Astorino and Williams, to leave the park on orders from Mayor Bramson. The parks employee confirmed twice that the order came from Bramson. So Astorino and Williams stood outside and next to Lincoln Park for the endorsement, which was made personally by Williams, and not in his role as National Association for the Advancement of Colored People president. When Astorino went on WVOX to talk about what had happened, and when the story of Astorino being banished from a New Rochelle park by the mayor and county executive candidate started making the rounds in the Westchester media and the online community, the Bramson campaign issued a statement which read: Just one week after he got caught lying five times in one 30 second ad, its no surprise that Rob Astorino continues to make bizarre and completely untrue accusations about Mayor Bramson and New Rochelle. Rob has no one to blame but himself for failing to get a legally required public assembly permit in advance of his political rally today in a local public park, the statement continues. Robs demonstrated reckless disregard for the truth should give pause to any news outlet the next time they receive a statement from his office or campaign. And, for the record, at the time Rob Astorino is alleging that a crazy, non-existent conspiracy was taking place, Mayor Bramson was in synagogue observing Rosh Hashanah with his family. The Bramson campaign claims that Bramson did not order the removal. However, a New Rochelle parks employee now caught in the middle of a county executives race claims that Bramson did give the order. Bramson has used public property in New Rochelle to receive his endorsements for mayor over the years. A well-respected resident and community leader in New Rochelle wanted to use Lincoln Park to endorse his choice for county executive Rob Astorino but was denied. Why? Because Bramson was irked that the NAACP president from his city was endorsing his opponent? Was it petty retaliation? Or was it an attempt to try to keep Williams from giving his endorsement, which he said: I am pleased to announce today that I am endorsing Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino for re-election based on his fiscal stewardship, his clear compassion for people in need, and for his ability to listen.

I was particularly impressed by his leadership in helping keep the Oasis shelter and the Family Court in New Rochelle open, continued Williams. When I went to New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson about these issues, he was disinterested and unsympathetic. Westchester County is best served by a leader who understands that safe communities, excellent schools and good paying jobs are all derived from a steady, responsible leader with the right values. Rob Astorino has shown those values, and I urge my membership and other Westchester voters of all political parties to give him a second term in November. After the endorsement, the Bramson campaign sent out an email trying to discredit Williams. It stated: Did you hear the one about a prominent Democrat endorsing Astorino? Ron Williams is well-known supporter of Republican candidates in New Rochelle who has supported Noams opponents in the past. Williams joins another prominent Democrat backing Astorino, Ron Tocci, who won his last election 11 years ago as the Republican and Conservative candidate. Real Westchester Democrats are united behind Noam. Williams joins Tocci, who was elected to the Assembly as a Democrat nine times; Mount Vernon City Councilwoman Deborah Reynolds, a Democrat; the Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, leader of the 5,000-member Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon; Bishop C. Nathan Edwers, president of the United Black Clergy and pastor at Friendship Worship Church; and prominent Westchester Jewish community leaders Martine Fleishman and Nancy Zaro, as some of the Democrats for Astorino. Instead of letting another endorsement come and go, the Bramson campaign turned another endorsement into a bigger news story, instead of focusing on Bramsons new television ad or the issues that Bramson wants to focus on in these last eight weeks of the campaign.