Mt Vernon Holds Historic Vote For Mayor

MOUNT VERNON, NY — Mount Vernon voters made history by electing a woman as their mayor. Shawyn Patterson-Howard is the first black woman elected mayor ever in Westchester County. Patterson-Howard took a commanding lead early on and declared victory with 81 percent of the vote in the 40 districts that had reported so far.

"We are a community that is resilient," she said in her victory speech. "We need to be unified. We need to be focused."

Unofficial results from the Westchester Board of Elections, with 40 of 74 election districts reporting:

• Andre Wallace - 872
• Shawyn Patterson-Howard - 4,350
• Rosemarie M. Jarosz - 138

The election of a new mayor isn't quite a re-hash of the Democratic primary (which usually forecasts the outcome of the general election). Though soundly defeated by Patterson-Howard then, former City Council President Andre Wallace, now the acting mayor, received the local Republican committee nod for the GOP line in the general election.

Plus, Rosemarie M. Jarosz, head of the city's Conservative Committee, ran on the Conservative line on the ballot.

In the Democratic primary, Patterson-Howard received 33 percent of the vote. Richard Thomas, then mayor, was a close second with 30 percent. Former police commissioner Clyde Isley received 20 percent of the vote and Wallace, who was then City Council president, 17 percent.

Wallace was appointed interim mayor by the City Council after Thomas pleaded guilty to campaign finance fraud, and almost immediately alienated the council members who said he was taking on power without consulting them. Their attempt to remove him was unsuccessful.

One future wild card for city-hall-watchers is Comptroller Deborah Reynolds, whose refusal to work with former Mayor Richard Thomas led to many scenes in City Hall. She is a Wallace ally.

Patterson-Howard, a former planning commissioner, has run the YMCA in Yonkers for many years. She campaigned on a good government platform, pledging to end the dysfunction in City Hall.

Results are unofficial until the Westchester County Board of Elections counts all absentee and affidavit votes and certifies the final results.

SEE:

• Closing Mount Vernon Hospital Becomes Election Issue
• Judge Picks Mount Vernon's Interim Mayor
• Mount Vernon Continues Dueling Mayors, Fight Over PD
• Mount Vernon City Council Votes To Oust Mayor