Scenes from Election Night

From left to right, Jackie Annabi, Robert Tendy, and Gina Capone, at Hanlon’s Steakhouse. Maybe the People Want More Taxes and Government, Says Putnam Valley’s Villanova

At Hanlon’s Steakhouse in Putnam Valley, the mood of Republicans was jubilant. Supervisor candidate Bob Tendy handily defeated Dawn Powell in his re-election bid. Jackie Annabi won a race for an open seat on the Town Board. Gina Capone cruised along with the backing of all the major parties in an election for Putnam Valley Town Justice.

Tendy was also “relieved” that voters had frustrated the town board bid of Patty Villanova, the renegade Republican and perennial thorn in the side of Supervisor Tendy.

“You can attack someone’s record but it should never be personal,” Tendy said, referring to Villanova. “I’m glad the people rose above it. I’m proud of them.”

Villanova had obtained the Republican nomination on a platform of exposing corruption and waste in Putnam Valley. She leveled serious charges that the town government had colluded to obtain stimulus funds for a new firehouse under false pretenses. “This project could bankrupt this town,” Villanova charged.

Tendy had criticized his fellow Republican, Villanova, as a conspiracy theorist, and said that her Freedom of Information Act requests “occupy our staff constantly.” Tendy said he welcomed honest disagreement. “If you have a viewpoint push it professionally; don’t make accusations against people,” Tendy said, adding, “I hope people will take a step back to reconsider ‘whether I’d been a little too strident.’”

But the overwhelming message Tendy wanted to communicate was satisfaction with the result. “Most of the people who are involved in the town on anything are very hardworking and caring. I’m very happy for Jackie Annabi,” Tendy said. “She never got negative.”

Tendy was also happy to see Whetsel re-elected. “We don’t agree on everything,” Tendy said of the town board’s Democratic member, “But she works hard and she cares and is capable of listening to both sides of an argument.” Tendy extended the goodwill to Chris Lieberman, who narrowly missed lost his bid for a town board seat, and even invited Lieberman to join him for drinks on election night.

Villanova was naturally disappointed with the results. “I thought my message was very clear that I was against the spending and against higher taxes,” she said. “Maybe the people want a new firehouse and bigger government. I didn’t compromise at all, and if that’s what the people of this town want, then so be it.”

A Tough Night for Democrats

At the Lantern Restaurant and Bar in Mahopac, Carmel’s Democratic candidates gathered together to take in the sobering election results, vowing that their efforts in 2009 are “only the beginning.”

“This is the first time we’ve reached out to Democrats in Carmel,” said David McKay Wilson, a former reporter for the Journal News, the daily newspaper in Westchester, who was defeated by incumbent Kenneth Schmitt in a contentious supervisor race.

“This is the first time we’ve had such a sustained campaign in 14 years,” said Democratic party co-chairman Lillian Jones. “No matter what happens, we’ve done something good and we’ll keep pressing forward.”

There were moments of hope for the Democrats. When the Putnam County Board of Elections posted the results from the first machine, David Wilson had a small lead. The first results came from the Secor neighborhood that Wilson calls home.

As the first Sheriff’s race results came in, showing that former Southeast Judge Jim Borkowski was pulling nearly 10 percent of the vote under the Working Families line—despite having publicly withdrawn from the race—many in the room speculated that Borkowski might spoil Don Smith’s campaign to remain Sheriff in the way that DeStefano, who withdrew from the Republican primary, may have spoiled Borkowski. Smith, however, pulled ahead quickly.

Marc Pekowsky, a candidate for Town Board, said that he was proud of his campaign. “Even if I didn’t win, I never succumbed to negative campaigning or personal attacks,” said the Yonkers school teacher, “and if nothing else, I helped force the other candidates to discuss specific issues in our town.”

Democrats did see one victory in Carmel, as Suzanne McDonough was elected to the town board. McDonough, a member of the Independence party, was endorsed by the Democrats this spring.

Wilson, who had been criticized for a tough, attack-style campaign by his opponent, said that he ran his campaign “like a journalist.”

“I dug up information and told a story about my opponent,” Wilson said. “I ran the campaign the only way I knew how to, doing the research and then publicizing it.” Wilson observed mordantly later that he had not won the endorsement of his former employer.

Lynne Eckardt, chairman of the Democratic party, pointed to Wendy Whetsel in Putnam Valley as an example of a Democrat who can win in Republican-dominated Putnam. “We’re really happy with Wendy [Whestsel],” Eckardt said.

Despite the new effort from the Putnam Democratic Committee, and an array of candidates, the party was unable to pull off a major upset of any Republican rivals.