Collins-Bellamy wins 5-way Yonkers council president race: Top Westchester primary results
Yonkers City Council President Lakisha Collins-Bellamy cruised to victory in a sprawling five-way primary that pitted her against two predecessors and two other Democrats in a citywide election.
Collins-Bellamy, an attorney first elected to lead the seven-member council in 2021, led her nearest rival by more than 800 votes in unofficial tallies as of early Wednesday, June 25. Running second was Mike Khader, who was attempting a comeback after serving four years as council president and losing the post to Collins-Bellamy.
Also seeking to reclaim the gavel was Chuck Lesnick, a former two-term president who came in third. Unofficial tallies for the five candidates as reported by the Westchester County Board of Elections were: Collins-Bellamy, 2,180; Khader, 1,317; Lesnick, 927; Tasha Diaz, 568; and Peter Spano, 551.
Yonkers also held two other primaries for council president on Tuesday. Dean Politopoulos beat Ronald Schutte in the Republican primary, and Angelique Lopez beat Resnick for the Working Families Party ballot line. The results set up a general election race in November with Collins-Bellamy, Politopoulos and Lopez competing for a four-year term as council president.
Collins-Bellamy was backed by the Democratic establishment in her re-election bid, with endorsements from Mayor Mike Spano, Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins and the Yonkers Democratic Committee. She also had the support of police and teachers' unions in the city of 208,000, the third largest city in New York state.
Here are a few other notable primary results in Westchester County on Tuesday:
Richard Dionisio, the Harrison mayor and supervisor, lost his quest for a third term with defeats in three separate primaries he waged to remain in office. Headed for a three-way faceoff in November are the winners of those races: Republican Tom Scappaticci, Democrat Mark Jaffe and Conservative Mary Malara.
Dionisio, a Republican, had returned to office in an unusual way last year. He lost his re-election race in November 2023, but later won a protracted court fight that ultimately disqualified the winner — Ron Belmont, a former mayor and supervisor ― because of a five-term limit that Harrison voters approved in that same election.
On Tuesday, Dionisio was soundly turned away by voters in the growing town and village of 31,000. The party-endorsed Scappaticci won the Republican primary, 535-195. Jaffe prevailed in the Democratic contest, 510-111. And Malara won the Conservative Party ballot line, 25-16.
White Plains Councilman Justin Brasch sailed to victory in a Democratic primary contest to become the city's first new mayor in 15 years. He will face Republican Lenny Lolis in November's general election.
Brasch and Nadine Hunt-Robinson, a former council member, were competing for the nomination to succeed Tom Roach, who has led the city of 61,000 since 2011 and passed up re-election to run instead for Westchester County clerk. Brash led Hunt-Robinson 1,803-1,053 in unofficial tallies.
Chris McKenna covers government and politics for The Journal News and USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Collins-Bellamy wins in Yonkers: Results of key Westchester primaries
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