Republican Marcotte Wins County Legislature Seat

Eastchester Town Councilwoman Sheila Marcotte, a Republican, was the victor Tuesday in a special election to fill a vacant seat on the Westchester County Board of Legislators, according to unofficial election results. 

With 66 out of 67 districts reporting on Tuesday night, Marcotte received 3,085 votes to Varian's 2,209, according to the Westchester County Board of Elections.

The 10th District seat, which covers Eastchester, Tuckahoe and New Rochelle, was vacated in April when Democrat Vito Pinto accepted a post as head of the County Veterans Service Agency.

Marcotte, who has nine years of experience on municipal boards, defeated Democratic candidate Greg Varian, a New Rochelle attorney and member of the city's Library Board. 

Over the course of the campaign the candidates repeatedly clashed over how best to close an impending $166 million budget gap and mitigate soaring property taxes.

Marcotte said that the key is consolidating duplicative county services and axing a number of agencies, leaving "only those services that are essential and that generate revenue." She has advocated for the County Human Rights Commission and Department of Social Services to be dissolved.

"We have to change the way our county government spends our hard-earned tax dollars," Marcotte said soon after she learned of her victory.

"This wasn't rocket science; it was the same message that was carried to all of Westchester's residents last November," when Republican Rob Astorino ousted County Executive Andy Spano in a stunning upset.

She pointed to consolidation that has taken place in Eastchester, where some jobs have been merged and others have been left unfilled when people retire.

Marcotte has also spoken out against a 2009 court settlement that requires 750 units of moderate-income housing to be established in some of the county's least diverse communities, as well as recent legislation that bans housing discrimination based on an individual's source of income.

On Monday, Executive Astorino made a campaign stop with Marcotte in Eastchester. He lauded her for the "common sense" she's displayed in her time on the Tuckahoe Village Board and Eastchester Council.

"The Board is doing what it's done for the last ten years, and I need Sheila's help to get things done and stop the tax craziness," said Astorino, who has had a choppy relationship with the overwhelmingly Democratic Board since he took office in January.

With a GOP victory Tuesday, the Board is now composed of 12 Democrats and five Republicans.

Many of Astorino's proposals to close the county's budget gap have been met with derision by the board. Among the proposed cuts are county-funded daycare programs and commuter bus lines. The Democratic majority is mulling a lawsuit over the daycare cuts, which Marcotte called "a waste of time and money."

Marcotte will take office immediately, and her term will expire at the end of 2011.

Tuesday's election was also notable because it marked the last time that voters in Westchester will vote on traditional lever machines. Federal and state mandates require all counties in New York to adopt electronic voting technology in time for the September primaries. The new machines, called optical scanners, will scan hand-marked paper ballots and record the votes.